Crimson Desert’s Kliff Actor Alec Newman Wants to Return — And the Characters Around Him Make a Sequel Almost Inevitable
When a lead voice actor says he’d play a character indefinitely given the chance, that’s not idle enthusiasm — that’s a signal worth paying attention to. For fans of Crimson Desert and its brooding, complex protagonist Kliff, the comments coming from actor Alec Newman are exactly the kind of fuel that sequel speculation is made of. And right now, with Crimson Desert firmly established as one of the biggest open-world games of 2026, the timing couldn’t be more loaded.
Dr Gamez has been watching Crimson Desert closely since Pearl Abyss first began showing it off in earnest, and from what we’ve seen, the game’s narrative ambitions have always punched harder than some gave them credit for. That’s exactly why Newman’s candid reflections about Kliff’s relationships and untapped story potential deserve more than a passing glance.
Alec Newman on Kliff: A Character He’d Return to Indefinitely
Speaking to the Fall Damage YouTube channel in a recent interview, Newman was refreshingly direct about his attachment to the role. He made clear that if Pearl Abyss called him tomorrow, he’d be back at the microphone without hesitation. For an actor of Newman’s calibre — someone with credits spanning The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and Elden Ring — that level of enthusiasm for a specific character stands out.
What makes his comments particularly interesting isn’t just the willingness to return. It’s the specificity of what he wants to explore further. Newman pointed to the bond between Kliff and the supporting character Oongka as the emotional material he found most rewarding during production, describing their shared history as the foundation for something that could be expanded upon considerably. He also singled out Damiane as another relationship with real narrative depth still left on the table.
The Oongka Dynamic: Crimson Desert’s Most Interesting Relationship?
From what we’ve seen during our time with the game, the Kliff-Oongka dynamic is genuinely the beating heart of Crimson Desert’s character work. Their bond isn’t explained in neat exposition — it’s implied through behavior, tension, and moments of surprising tenderness from two characters who are otherwise defined by violence and survival. Newman’s instinct that this is territory with room to grow is spot on.
A prequel exploring how Kliff and Oongka’s paths became so intertwined would be one of the most obvious and compelling DLC directions Pearl Abyss could pursue. The raw material is already there. The characters have history that the base game only gestures toward, and audiences have already demonstrated they care enough about both of them to want more.
Damiane and the Supporting Cast’s Untapped Potential
Newman also highlighted Damiane as a relationship that felt similarly layered during recording. Damiane is one of Crimson Desert’s more enigmatic figures, and the game deliberately keeps certain aspects of their connection to Kliff deliberately ambiguous. That kind of purposeful restraint in storytelling is a gift to any writer — or voice actor — who wants to pick things up in future content.
Beyond those two, characters like Matthias, who functions as an early combat mentor, represent additional narrative threads that a DLC or sequel could tug on meaningfully. Pearl Abyss has built a roster of supporting characters rich enough to sustain multiple stories. The question is whether they’ll commit to telling them.
Why This Matters: Crimson Desert’s Story Has Always Been Underrated
Part of what makes Newman’s enthusiasm so resonant is that it pushes back against a narrative that has followed Crimson Desert since launch — the idea that its story is merely serviceable scaffolding around spectacular combat and an enormous open world. In our experience covering Pearl Abyss titles, the studio has always invested more in character work than they typically get credit for, and Crimson Desert is no exception.
Newman himself has addressed this perception directly in earlier interviews, acknowledging that players come for the scale and the spectacle. But the voice cast — which also includes Baldur’s Gate 3’s Neil Newbon in a supporting role — is far too accomplished to have phoned anything in. The storytelling in Crimson Desert works precisely because the performances give emotional weight to moments the gameplay might otherwise rush past.
This echoes something we’ve seen before in the industry. When CD Projekt Red released The Witcher 3, the depth of Geralt’s relationships with characters like Yennefer, Triss, and Ciri was a major reason the game transcended its genre. The voice cast’s investment in those relationships — particularly Doug Cockle’s portrayal of Geralt — became inseparable from the game’s legacy. Newman clearly sees that same potential in Kliff’s world, and he’s not wrong.
What Alec Newman’s Comments Tell Us About Crimson Desert’s Future
Reading between the lines of this interview, there’s more going on than simple fondness for a role. When an actor this experienced emphasizes specific character relationships and describes them as having further developmental potential, it sounds less like wishful thinking and more like someone who has had genuine conversations about what comes next.
Pearl Abyss hasn’t announced a sequel or major story DLC for Crimson Desert — at least not publicly. But the studio’s post-launch cadence has been busy. Recent updates have expanded gameplay systems, added new taming mechanics, and addressed endgame pacing issues that some players flagged in the weeks after launch. The team is clearly invested in the game’s long-term health.
The completion rate data adds an interesting wrinkle here too. Only around 6.8% of Crimson Desert players on Steam had finished the game within two months of launch, which sounds alarming until you consider that it speaks to a player base that is spending enormous amounts of time in the world before getting anywhere near the credits. That kind of engagement is what publishers love to see when planning expansions.
The DLC Question: What Would Make Sense?
If Pearl Abyss does greenlight narrative DLC or a full sequel, Newman’s interview essentially hands them a roadmap. A Kliff-and-Oongka-focused expansion that fleshes out their shared past would give existing players exactly the kind of character-driven payoff that the base game teases. A story that centers Damiane could offer a different tonal register while keeping the established world intact.
A full Crimson Desert 2 feels further off — Pearl Abyss would need to assess commercial performance and long-term player numbers before committing to that scale of production. But a substantial story expansion? That feels not just possible but probable, especially when the lead actor is publicly telegraphing how much runway the narrative still has.
Conclusion: Alec Newman’s Passion for Kliff Is the Best Argument for More Crimson Desert
The Crimson Desert story isn’t finished — and according to the man who gives Kliff his voice, it doesn’t need to be. Alec Newman’s genuine enthusiasm for returning to the role, combined with his clear-eyed assessment of which character relationships have the most narrative potential, paints a picture of a creative who isn’t just fond of a past job. He’s already thinking about the next chapter.
Dr Gamez will be watching Pearl Abyss closely for any announcements about the game’s future story direction. If the studio has the confidence to build on what Newman and the rest of the cast have already delivered, Crimson Desert could become something with staying power far beyond a single game — in the same way that The Witcher 3’s world still feels alive years after its release.
For now, the question we want to put back to you: which Crimson Desert character relationship would you most want to see explored in a DLC or sequel — Kliff and Oongka, Kliff and Damiane, or someone else entirely? Drop your thoughts in the comments.
