Crimson Desert is getting its first paid expansion, and it lands sooner than most expected. Pearl Abyss revealed Charting the Unknown during a State of Play showcase, confirming a fixed launch date and a pre-order window that is already open on most platforms. The expansion picks up after the base game’s ending and pushes Kliff, Oongka, and Damiane further across the continent of Pywel.
Quick answer: Charting the Unknown launches October 15th, 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC for $25. Pre-order on any storefront to unlock the Charter’s Diving Set for Kliff and Oongka and the Charter’s Light Diving Set for Damiane.
Release time: October 15th, 2026 at 22:00 UTC (3:00 PM PT / 6:00 PM ET)
Charting the Unknown release date and times by region
The DLC goes live worldwide on October 15th, 2026, with the exact clock time shifting by region. The table below lists the confirmed unlock windows.
| Region | Local release time |
|---|---|
| North America | October 15th at 3:00 PM PT / 6:00 PM ET |
| Europe | October 15th at 22:00 UTC / October 16th at 00:00 CEST |
| Asia | October 16th at 7:00 AM KST/JST |
Platforms, price, and the Mac exception
Charting the Unknown costs $25 and releases on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It runs on top of the free Crimson Desert Enhanced upgrade, which bundled prior patches along with new skills, story additions, extra language support, and a reworked system for earning and swapping abilities.
The one gap is the Mac App Store version. The expansion will not be available there at launch. Pearl Abyss has said it will announce separately if that changes.
Pre-order timing and bonus items
Pre-orders opened first on the PlayStation Store, followed by Steam, the Epic Games Store, and the Microsoft Store. Anyone who buys ahead of launch receives a cosmetic diving bonus tied to each of the three lead characters.
| Pre-order bonus | Character |
|---|---|
| Charter’s Diving Set | Kliff and Oongka |
| Charter’s Light Diving Set | Damiane |
You can review the full expansion details on the official Charting the Unknown page before committing to a pre-order on your platform of choice.
What Charting the Unknown adds
The expansion continues the main narrative past the base game’s conclusion, with the trio shown at an older stage of their lives as they search for their purpose in Pywel. Alongside the story missions, the reveal trailer showcased a wide spread of new systems that move the game beyond land.
- Naval gameplay, including captaining your own ship and what looks like combat at sea.
- Underwater exploration, with Kliff diving through submerged ruins and grabbing onto a large shark to travel.
- Homesteading and house building, using a pulled-back camera closer to a settlement builder than a locked first-person view.
- New bosses, weapons, and armor kits tied to the fresh regions.
- Apparent romance content, with the trailer showing a marriage proposal and NPCs cooking food.
Note: Pearl Abyss has not published a full breakdown of every system, so some of these features are drawn from the reveal footage rather than a detailed spec sheet. The trailer footage was captured on a PS5 Pro.
Crimson Desert has sold more than 6 million copies since its March release, and Pearl Abyss has kept a steady cadence of updates going since then. A Switch 2 version is also in development, and the studio has said it is exploring multiplayer and live service directions for the franchise, though neither featured in this reveal. For now, Charting the Unknown is the clearest sign of where the game heads next.
