Crimson Desert devs apologize for ‘confusion’ over Intel GPU FAQ — backtracks over prior dismissive language regarding Arc graphics support

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Pearl Abyss confirms there's an Intel Arc support update on the way, but we don't know when.

A screenshot from the game Crimson Desert, showing intense melee combat gameplay.
(Image credit: Pearl Abyss)

Social media accounts officially representing Crimson Desert have apologized for prior dismissive language regarding Intel GPUs. “We apologize for any confusion our FAQ wording from several hours ago regarding playability on Intel Arc GPUs may have caused,” said a statement on X. Furthermore, it is made clear that work is now taking place to implement compatibility and optimize for Intel Arc graphics processors.

Circling back to just before the weekend, the PC gaming community seemed stunned by a blunt statement found in the Crimson Desert FAQ that suggested Intel Arc users simply find something else to play. In brief, that FAQ stated there was no support for Intel Arc GPUs, and if you’d bought the game to play on one of the Blue Team’s graphics cards or iGPUs, you should seek a refund from where you'd bought the game.

Many folks found this official statement troubling. Firstly, this is one of the hottest gaming titles around right now. Secondly, we didn’t have any hint of the reasoning behind such a sweeping decision. One must remember that while Intel is a relatively small player in discrete graphics cards, it is the leader in iGPUs. Moreover, its newer generation iGPUs are increasingly impressive. For example, the low-wattage Core Ultra 300H series mobile processors packing Arc B390 graphics can match the classic Nvidia GTX 1060 in modern titles. There’s a decade between their launch dates, but the 1060 is notable for making the grade in the official Crimson Desert minimum specs.

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A screenshot of the Crimson Desert FAQ.
(Image credit: Future)

It is great to see the Crimson Desert devs change tack on Intel graphics. We reported a short time after the ‘no Arc gamers’ FAQ find, that Intel had reached out to developer Pearl Abyss “many times” concerning collaborative efforts. Intel stated in an email to Tom’s Hardware that it was “hugely disappointed that players using Intel graphics hardware can’t jump into the world of Pywel at launch.” Intel wrapped up its message by saying it was ready to assist the game devs however it could.

Perhaps, this chipmaking heavyweight’s clear disappointment and offers of help oiled the wheels deep at Pearl Abyss. “We are currently working on compatibility and optimization support so that Crimson Desert can also be enjoyed on Intel Arc GPU systems,” said the official social media account for the game today. “We are preparing to provide a smooth and stable gameplay experience, and we ask for your patience until the support update becomes available.”

For those interested in more Crimson Desert news and features, we recently shared our CPU scaling test results.

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Mark Tyson
Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Notton
    What's confusing is how buggy the game is, considering it's their own, in-house developed, game engine
    Reply
  • ezst036
    They blinked.

    Good. No reason not to wrap up proper support for Intel GPUs.
    Reply
  • txfeinbergs
    Notton said:
    What's confusing is how buggy the game is, considering it's their own, in-house developed, game engine
    The only bug I have encountered so far in 12 hours of playing is the fishing reeling in not working unless you plug in the controller to the wall. Weirdest bug I have ever come across. Otherwise, for a game this massive, it is pretty impressively solid.
    Reply
  • bigdragon
    This is good news! This is the response Pearl Abyss should have given initially. Devs need to make sure games run on Arc, and Intel needs to keep cooking with their graphics division. We need rich competition in the graphics space, and there's a non-zero chance of Nvidia completely eschewing gamers to focus on data center customers.
    Reply
  • aldaia
    Steam Usage Share (Feb 2026):
    Nvidia 84.68%
    AMD 10.61%
    Intel Arc ~1% (Estimated)

    If you where a dev, what hardware will you make sure your games have the proper support?
    Reply
  • Gururu
    aldaia said:
    Steam Usage Share (Feb 2026):
    Nvidia 84.68%
    AMD 10.61%
    Intel Arc ~1% (Estimated)

    If you where a dev, what hardware will you make sure your games have the proper support?
    nVidia because they dominate market share and AMD because they bribed Pearl Abyss with millions of dollars. See Jayztwocents.
    Reply
  • beyondlogic
    Honestly all the bad publicity is enough for a knee jerk reaction especially since intel is willing to help makes it look worse I mean Jesus it's intel.
    Intel's bending over backwards to make these GPUs work on most hardware the only thing I hope in future is that there performance gets better even without Sam etc
    Reply
  • Gururu
    beyondlogic said:
    Honestly all the bad publicity is enough for a knee jerk reaction especially since intel is willing to help makes it look worse I mean Jesus it's intel.
    Intel's bending over backwards to make these GPUs work on most hardware the only thing I hope in future is that there performance gets better even without Sam etc
    I am not sure they can squeeze more out of the B dGPU series. The performance is already stellar but maybe optimization for older CPU platforms can continue to improve. This is the first AAA that I believe had any issues and it was completely game side. They probably haven't got everything out of the B390 yet so that may show some better performance on laptops side.
    Reply
  • usertests
    beyondlogic said:
    Intel's bending over backwards to make these GPUs work on most hardware the only thing I hope in future is that there performance gets better even without Sam etc
    I don't see a bright future for Intel dGPUs. The latest thing is that the B770 appears cancelled in favor of B70/B65 professional dGPUs. Which is probably a great move by Intel since there are big fans of the B60's high VRAM and relatively low cost.

    There must be at least half a billion and counting Intel iGPUs, including very good ones like Lunar/Panther. Although Intel is planning to adopt Nvidia graphics chiplets in some products, lower end Intel iGPUs will probably continue to be produced in the tens of millions for many years. They are relevant as long as people decide to use them, and some of the market share numbers being cited may not be counting them. If a game can run at even 720p30 on iGPU, it's playable. No SAM/ReBAR problems with these.
    Reply
  • beyondlogic
    usertests said:
    I don't see a bright future for Intel dGPUs. The latest thing is that the B770 appears cancelled in favor of B70/B65 professional dGPUs. Which is probably a great move by Intel since there are big fans of the B60's high VRAM and relatively low cost.

    There must be at least half a billion and counting Intel iGPUs, including very good ones like Lunar/Panther. Although Intel is planning to adopt Nvidia graphics chiplets in some products, lower end Intel iGPUs will probably continue to be produced in the tens of millions for many years. They are relevant as long as people decide to use them, and some of the market share numbers being cited may not be counting them. If a game can run at even 720p30 on iGPU, it's playable. No SAM/ReBAR problems with these.

    I think it's far to early to throw in towel I get the feeling they will stay in the 180-400 segment the landscape constantly changes .
    Reply