Crimson Desert Specs Revealed With Dedicated ROG Xbox Ally Sheet

If you haven't yet, follow us on X (Twitter), Mastodon, or Bluesky to know when we post new articles, and join our Reddit or Subscribe to us on YouTube to check out our content and interact with our awesome community. Thank you for supporting us!

It's hard to deny how hyped up Crimson Desert is. Since it has been shown off, the sheer size and scope of the game have seemed overwhelming, with so much to do and see, and a structure that seems to move away from the traditional mechanics in open-world adventure games. It has been exciting to see, but speculation has been rampant on whether it will run on handheld PCs like the Steam Deck. Today, we do have some confirmation on that, thanks to the specification sheets that have just been revealed.

Over on their website, developer Pearl Abyss posted four different specification sheets for the game, correlating with the different versions of the game that it will be playable on. However, what makes this most interesting is that not only do they have a PC spec sheet, but they also have a dedicated sheet for the ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X:

These specs are very interesting, especially for the ROG Xbox Ally, which gives me some worries about Steam Deck performance and handheld PC quality.

Just by going off the PC specification sheet, it should be playable on the Steam Deck. The CPU and GPU minimum requirements are both on the high end for the Steam Deck, but still within the realm of playability. It's also aiming for an upscaled 1080p, which is higher than what the Deck can handle (native screen resolution is 1280x800). This actually gives me a lot of confidence in how it may perform.

However, the ROG Xbo Ally specifications actually do the opposite for me. The ROG Xbox Ally spec sheet covers both the ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, and the Steam Deck's power is very similar to the ROG Xbox Ally. But there are a few issues I found that make me a little worried. The dedicated slot for the ROG Xbox Ally shows a 720p resolution target, which is similar to what we will look for on the Deck, but it's targeting 40 FPS with FSR 3 Frame Generation. This means the base framerate of the game will be 20 FPS on average, which is terrible.

On top of that, there are no details on what the actual quality levels are on each of the sections. It's laid out similarly to the console sheet, giving us "Performance", "Balanced", and "Quality." However, none of these have detail to what the quality level will actually be, and with these being PCs, I would have expected more detail on how each one will look. I highly doubt the "Performance" preset for the Xbox Ally X will be the same as the PS5 Pro (in terms of quality levels).

Ultimately, it leaves me a little worried, but I have hope. Crimson Desert looks amazing, and it looks very well optimized. So, when push comes to shove, I am hoping we can get it running at 30 FPS on the Steam Deck, though my worries about the use of frame generation hang over my head.

Crimson Desert can be pre-purchased for $69.99 ahead of its March 19th release date.

If you enjoyed this article, check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that will help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back!