Crimson Desert is getting its first major expansion, Charting the Unknown, and the headline addition is full underwater exploration. Pearl Abyss revealed the content during a Sony State of Play, showing protagonist Kliff diving beneath the waves in a purpose-built suit, gliding through sunken ruins, and being chased by an enormous mechanical sea creature. It turns a game that was built around land travel into one that also reaches out to sea.
Quick answer: Charting the Unknown, Crimson Desert’s first expansion, adds full underwater exploration with a diving suit, a handheld propulsion device, and shark riding, and it launches October 15, 2026.
Underwater traversal: diving suit, propulsion, and shark riding
Getting below the surface starts with dedicated gear. Kliff wears a heavy, retro-styled diving suit with metal joints, a full helmet, and back-mounted air tanks, referred to as the Charter’s Diving Set. Once he plunges through the water, movement opens up in three dimensions rather than the surface-only swimming the base game offered.
To cover distance, the diver activates a handheld underwater propulsion device, a motorized thruster that leaves a bubble trail as he glides over ancient stonework. The trailer shows him crafting this gear from a blueprint, positioning it as an improvised piece of equipment rather than something handed to you outright.
The most eye-catching option is hitching a ride on wildlife. Kliff can grab onto the dorsal fin of a large shark and let it pull him through the depths, a traversal trick that doubles as one of the expansion’s signature moments.
What’s waiting beneath the surface
The seafloor is built out as a real explorable space, not just a backdrop. Divers pass coral formations and underwater flora, then move through submerged architecture, sunken stone stairways, columns, and the remains of ruined structures. Hidden treasure is part of the draw, giving a reason to search these areas rather than pass over them.
This is no peaceful sightseeing outing: underwater areas contain hostile encounters, with a huge mechanical sea beast posing the greatest danger. In one scene, Kliff frantically swims to escape as the leviathan’s glowing inner lights shine and its jaws snap shut just behind him.
Sailing, base building, and where the story fits
Underwater exploration is part of a wider focus on the sea and on player bases. Kliff takes the helm and pilots a ship onto the water, bringing sailing and naval combat to a game whose action had previously stayed on land. A new stronghold-and-castle building feature lets you alter spaces in your territory and construct buildings, going beyond the base game’s basic furniture placement.
Narratively, Charting the Unknown picks up after the main game ends. Kliff, Ounka, and Damiane travel across the continent of Pywel chasing their own goals and running into new trials in a world described as increasingly chaotic. The trailer also teased a possible romance thread, showing Kliff offering flowers to the character Elowen, though the exact scope of that system has not been detailed.
Release date and pre-order diving sets
Charting the Unknown releases on October 15, 2026. Players who pre-order early receive the Charter’s and Charter’s Light Diving Sets, the cosmetic gear tied directly to the expansion’s underwater theme.
The expansion follows Crimson Desert Enhanced, an earlier update that added new cutscenes and dialogue and widened language support with fresh dubs. With the ocean layer, sailing, and base building all landing together, the update reshapes how much of Pywel you can actually reach.
