Alec Newman, who voices protagonist Kliff in Crimson Desert, has opened up about the game's tumultuous five-year development cycle, describing a pivotal moment when Pearl Abyss finally committed to building out the narrative that had been largely sidelined during production.
Speaking on the Friends Per Second Podcast, Newman explained that for the first year and a half of his work, he believed he was only recording for a demo. It wasn't until nearly two years in that developers told him the project would move forward in earnest. "I went, 'What the hell do you mean? We've been doing this for ages!'" he recalled.
The actor's experience mirrors Crimson Desert's own winding path. The title began as an MMORPG prequel to Black Desert Online before shifting into a single-player open-world action RPG, with the story gradually coming into focus as development progressed.
The Character Nobody Named
Newman revealed that the character he now plays went by "Macduff" for a significant portion of recording sessions. The protagonist's eventual name change to Kliff marked a turning point—one where Newman began actively advocating for the narrative work the game was lacking.
"When Kliff stopped being Macduff, which was a considerable amount of time into the recording, once they settled on Kliff, I just kept pushing and pushing and pushing about story and character as much as I could," he said.
According to Newman, the developers were juggling competing priorities throughout production. The team kept shifting focus between different elements of the game, making the process feel "very much like making a TV series where they kept moving the focus." Pearl Abyss CEO Heo Jin-young later acknowledged this trade-off, admitting that the studio ultimately prioritized gameplay over narrative because that's where the company's strengths lie.
What Newman calls the "bridge point" came roughly two and a half years into development, when Pearl Abyss decided it wanted the Greymanes storyline—centered on family and loyalty—to actually resonate with players. This refocus on emotional character stakes led to gradual additions to Kliff's dialogue and personality.
"I don't want to say they started panicking, but they were like, 'Oh yeah, we really want this. We really want Kliff to care about his comrades,'" Newman explained. "And I said, 'Well, he does, but you haven't written that monologue.' So we brought it in gradually and wherever we could, we attended to it."
The actor acknowledged the limitations of what got included in the final game. "Those moments were fewer than they could have been," he said.
Newman's account aligns with player reception. Many have criticized Kliff for feeling hollow and emotionally detached, particularly in the game's opening hours. However, Newman is optimistic that players' perception evolves as they invest more time in the world and unlock deeper layers of his character.
"My hope for the game is—it seems to be happening—as people spend more time with Kliff and they spend more time in the game and in the world, they kind of live in that level of his existence," he said.
Newman has seen evidence of this shift. "I've been reading and hearing a lot of people going, 'I didn't know what the hell this was when I played it, the first eight, 10 hours, and now I'm 200 hours in and I can't turn it off.'"
Despite the narrative shortcomings, Crimson Desert has been a commercial success, selling 3 million copies since launch. Many players have embraced it primarily as a sandbox experience, valuing the expansive open world and freedom to explore over traditional story beats. Newman noted that while some appreciate the voice acting and characterization, the game's biggest draw remains its sheer size and detail—including the ability to pick up cats scattered throughout the world.
Newman is no stranger to video game voice work, having previously played Cameron "Caz" McLeary in Still Wakes the Deep and Adam Smasher in Cyberpunk 2077. His push for stronger character work on Crimson Desert speaks to his experience across the medium and his conviction that even in sandbox-focused games, narrative depth matters.
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