Is Crimson Desert coming to Xbox Game Pass? Answered

2026 has only just begun, but this year is shaping up to be one of the best for video games in quite some time. We have Grand Theft Auto 6, hopefully, releasing this year, along with a number of high-profile launches, such as Resident Evil Requiem, Forza Horizon 6, Fable, and many others. However, Crimson Desert just might be the game that generates the most buzz, aside from GTA 6.

Crimson Desert is an upcoming single-player open world RPG that looks to be incredibly ambitious and filled to the brim with content. While we still have a couple of months before Crimson Desert is released, you might be interested to know whether or not it's arriving on Xbox Game Pass.

Crimson Desert is being developed by Pearl Abyss, which isn't under Microsoft or Xbox's umbrella. It's also being released for the PlayStation 5, and those two factors usually put serious doubt in a day one Game Pass launch for a new title.

Unfortunately, that trend continues with Crimson Desert, as the game is not coming to Game Pass on day one for any tier of the service, meaning even Ultimate subscribers won't get access to it. This has been confirmed by the developers, but no concrete reason was given as to why the game isn't arriving on the popular subscription service.

However, the developers made sure to specify that Crimson Desert isn't coming to Game Pass on day one, meaning that the possibility exists that the game could eventually come to the subscription service post-launch. Of course, we don't know when that could be, but the door remains open.

For now, those are all of the details we have on Crimson Desert and the possibility of it arriving on Xbox Game Pass. Hopefully, the game does well enough in sales during the start of its launch cycle, which would likely give more of an incentive for the developers to add it to the subscription service.

You can play Crimson Desert on PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S starting on March 19, 2026.