由Pearl Abyss開發的網遊逆移植遊戲《赤血沙漠》在24小時內售出200萬份，開發單位表示榮幸之至，同時也承認遊戲還存在不足之處：
We are incredibly humbled to share that #CrimsonDesert has sold through 2 million copies worldwide. Thank you so much to our fans, community, and everyone who has joined us in Pywel. We will listen closely to the wide range of feedback shared by the community and work to make improvements quickly, doing our utmost to make the journey ahead even more enjoyable for our players.
「我們將認真聽取玩家社群的反饋意見，儘快改進，竭力為玩家提供更愉悅的遊戲體驗。」
Eurogamer在評測文章中表示，《赤血沙漠》擁有廣袤的世界與比肩網遊的各色事件，畫面精美絕倫（硬體需求卻不高），但這一切如果不好玩，又有何意義？
PC Gamer的評測編輯則指出，遊戲所規定的操控方式「令人費解」，改用手柄會比鍵鼠更順暢（首批分發給媒體的評測版均為PC版）。開發單位Pearl Abyss的公關總監在社交媒體上回應說，這就像騎自行車，只要學會了就不會忘，只要花一分鐘適應一下：
think of it like riding a bike, it comes naturally after you learn it. just takes a minute
I'm agreeing with you, saying that it takes time to learn, but it comes naturally after you do.
儘管公關竭盡所能洗地，但Pearl Abyss在巨大的壓力面前必須有所表示，重新設計UI與操控理應是優先事項。
Crimson Desert and Crimson Desserts in the office today. Thanks everyone for an awesome day one. Spent most of the day responding to people and watching people's first moments in Pywel. Amazing to see how people play a game that I've spent 100s of hours in.
鑑於《赤血沙漠》的MMO屬性，PC Gamer建議玩家放鬆心情，拋去所有練級與通關之類功利化念頭，在遊戲世界裡信馬由韁，方為體會這款遊戲精妙之處的正確服用方法。
PC Gamer還指出，為這款遊戲打高分的評測編輯都是那些忽略截稿日期，盡情享受遊戲世界的撰稿人，比如《福布斯》的保羅：
