Did Crimson Desert flop again? The promoted beast mounts look nothing like the actual in-game version

There’s a problem.

The backlash Crimson Desert is getting this time is no small matter.

It had already stirred controversy before over AI art assets and its dragon race settings. Now the mount system is under fire.

And the issue is very straightforward.

The scenery is beautiful. The open world is large enough. Its level of freedom has been rated fairly well.

But the moment you have to travel, the experience falls apart.

After hands-on testing, players found that the only mount you can truly bond with permanently and summon at any time is an ordinary horse.

And that hits the core contradiction.

Because in its earlier official promotion, players were shown exotic mounts like saddled bears, raptors, wolves, and dragons. A normal player seeing that would naturally assume: they can be tamed, raised, and used long-term.

But that’s not how it works after launch.

Aside from dragons, which were never tameable to begin with, the other rare beasts are not actually “tamed” either. Instead, you have to beat them until they are exhausted, then ride them briefly.

The key word is “briefly.”

The moment you get off, it immediately turns hostile and attacks you again.

This is not a mount system. It feels more like a temporary tool.

So it’s perfectly normal for players to be unhappy.

A related complaint thread on Reddit has already received more than 5000 upvotes, which shows this is not a misunderstanding limited to a few people, but a fairly widespread sense of disappointment.

One person said it directly: “This is a single-player game. Putting a bear in my stable wouldn’t affect anyone.” That gets right to the heart of it.

In a single-player open world, permanently raising exotic beasts is naturally part of the fun.

Collecting. Training. Showing them off. Long-term companionship.

All of that has been cut out by the current design.

So the issue has escalated from “the design is weird” to “whether the promotion was misleading.”

Players have already started filing concentrated complaints with Pearl Abyss customer support. There were so many that the customer service servers reportedly crashed for a while.

That makes one thing even clearer.

What players care about is not just power. It’s a sense of promise.

Whatever you show, players will expect.

If in the end you can only ride ordinary horses, then those earlier shots of exotic beasts are no longer just visually appealing. They become something that backfires.

The buying advice is also very simple.

If you’re in it for the open-world scenery, Crimson Desert is still appealing. If what you care about most is raising exotic mounts, don’t rush.

Wait for the official response. Then decide.

This kind of controversy usually has only two solutions.

Either change the system so rare beasts can be permanently recruited. Or clearly explain the promotion and acknowledge that there was a gap between what was shown and the actual experience.

Otherwise, this reputation damage will be hard to undo on its own.

Players are still waiting and watching. How the developers respond will determine whether this system can be salvaged or continues to lose points.