Overview
Crimson Desert features a full crime and wanted system that tracks Kliff's criminal actions across the open world. Players are free to engage in a variety of antisocial behaviors, but every transgression carries consequences that escalate the longer and more aggressively the player acts. The system is designed to allow player agency while ensuring that criminal behavior comes at a meaningful cost, affecting everything from NPC interactions to regional economic benefits.
Types of criminal actions
The game recognizes several categories of criminal behavior that contribute to the wanted system. These range from petty offenses to serious violence.
Crime | Description | Severity |
|---|---|---|
Pickpocketing | Stealing items directly from NPC residents | Low |
Theft | Taking items from vendor stalls, such as fruit from a food stand | Low |
Bullying NPCs | Intimidating or pushing civilians without lethal force | Medium |
Assaulting townspeople | Engaging in open combat with non-hostile NPCs | High |
Attacking guards | Fighting law enforcement or military patrols directly | Very High |
Each criminal action adds to a running bounty value that is tracked in the user interface. The more severe the crime, the larger the bounty increase. Repeated offenses in a short period cause the bounty to rise rapidly, making it difficult to escape consequences through minor misbehavior alone.
Bounty accumulation and wanted posters
As the bounty value increases, the system creates a visible "Wanted Poster" that displays the player character's face along with the current bounty amount. This poster serves as both a gameplay indicator and a narrative touch, reinforcing the idea that Kliff's criminal behavior is noticed and documented by the communities he moves through.
The bounty is not a simple toggle between "wanted" and "not wanted." It operates on a sliding scale, with different thresholds triggering different levels of response from the world. A small bounty from a single act of theft might result in wary NPCs and the occasional patrol keeping an eye on the player. A large bounty accumulated through sustained violence will turn entire settlements hostile.
Guard and patrol response
Once the bounty exceeds certain thresholds, guards and military patrols become actively hostile. They will pursue Kliff on sight, engaging in combat to subdue or arrest him. The response scales with the bounty level. At lower wanted levels, guards may issue warnings or attempt to detain the player peacefully. At higher levels, they attack with lethal intent and call for reinforcements.
Guards are not omniscient. The system appears to use line-of-sight and proximity detection, meaning that players can potentially evade pursuit by breaking line of sight and putting distance between themselves and their pursuers. However, returning to the scene of a recent crime while the bounty is still active will immediately re-engage the authorities.
Imprisonment
If Kliff is defeated or caught by guards while wanted, the result is arrest rather than death. The player is placed in a wooden holding cell and must endure a period of imprisonment. This functions as a gameplay penalty that temporarily restricts the player's freedom without forcing a reload or permanent setback. After serving the imprisonment period, Kliff is released, though the consequences of his criminal actions may persist in other forms.
Regional reputation loss
One of the most significant long-term consequences of criminal activity is the loss of regional reputation. Criminal actions cause regional contribution scores to drop in the affected area. These regional contributions are tied to location-specific perks and benefits, including vendor discounts, access to certain NPC services, and other advantages that players earn through positive engagement with communities.
Losing reputation in a region means losing those perks. A player who has built up a favorable standing in a particular town by completing quests and helping residents can see that progress eroded by a crime spree. Extensive criminal activity can make entire towns permanently hostile, locking the player out of services and interactions that would otherwise be available.
Bounty clearance
The bounty persists until it is cleared. The primary method of clearing a bounty is through arrest and imprisonment. When Kliff serves his time in a holding cell, the bounty resets. Other methods of bounty clearance have not been fully detailed in pre-release materials, but the system is designed to ensure that players cannot simply wait out their wanted status without consequence.
Developer commentary
Developers at Pearl Abyss have acknowledged that the system allows for an "evil playthrough" where the player commits crimes freely. However, one developer commented: "Would I recommend a full playthrough in that playstyle? Eh, I don't know." This suggests that while the system supports full criminal agency, the accumulated penalties make a purely villainous approach significantly more challenging and potentially less rewarding than a balanced or lawful playstyle.
The wanted system reflects Crimson Desert's overall design philosophy of player freedom with meaningful consequences. Every action in the open world has ripple effects, and the crime system ensures that those ripple effects extend beyond immediate combat encounters into the social and economic fabric of the game world.
Strategic considerations
Petty crimes like pickpocketing can provide quick resources but risk compounding bounties if guards notice
Attacking guards dramatically escalates the wanted level, making escape much harder
Regional reputation loss can lock players out of vendor discounts and NPC quest lines
Imprisonment clears the bounty but costs time and may affect ongoing quest timers
Players should weigh the short-term gains of theft against the long-term loss of community standing
The system interacts with camp management, as resources obtained through theft may not offset the lost benefits of good regional standing