CRSED review

This CRSED review is based on official sources and player reviews, not on our own play time. CRSED: Cuisine Royale is a free-to-play last-man-standing shooter published by Gaijin and developed by Darkflow Software. It first appeared on Steam in June 2018 under the Cuisine Royale name. It runs on Windows PC (Gaijin launcher or Steam), PS4, PS5 and Xbox. Money buys a Battle Pass, Golden Crowns and bundles, and console ratings note random-item purchases.

What is CRSED?

CRSED: Cuisine Royale is a multiplayer last-man-standing shooter. Gaijin Network publishes it, and Steam credits Darkflow Software and Matter Team as developers. Up to 40 players drop into each session, and the playable area keeps shrinking inside a deadly Dark Zone. The official FAQ lists three modes: Solo, Duo (PC only) and Squad for three or four players.

Two rule sets sit on top of that. Cuisine Royale mode uses only realistic weapons and improvised armor, while CRSED mode adds mystical rituals, traps and champion superpowers. The About page counts eleven champions, each with a unique power, and you collect sinner souls from kills to pay for most mystic powers.

You can play in first- or third-person view; in third person, a familiar with a camera can reveal players who peek around corners. Servers run in Europe, East Asia, Eastern Europe and North America, and the game uses EasyAntiCheat.

Is CRSED the same as Cuisine Royale?

Yes. The Steam listing, app 884660 with a June 15, 2018 release date, is now titled CRSED: Cuisine Royale, and the old cuisineroyale.com address forwards to crsed.net. Console stores show other names: the Microsoft Store lists the game as CRSED: F.O.A.D., and its add-ons still include a Cuisine Royale - Starter Bundle, while the PlayStation Store lists it simply as CRSED.

In February 2024, the official update Cuisine Royale Is Back returned a mode built on realistic weapons without superpowers, next to the CRSED mode.

The last numbered update on the official news page, 3.0.3.101, came out on February 10, 2026. Through 2026 the news feed has mostly posted rotating limited-time events, one every two weeks, such as Revenant on October 27, 2026.

Is CRSED free to play?

Yes. The official site says "Play for free," Steam lists CRSED as Free To Play, the PlayStation Store shows it as free, and the Microsoft Store lists the base game at $0. On PC you can use a Gaijin.Net account with the Gaijin.NET Agent launcher or play through Steam.

According to the official site, daily tasks and secret missions award unique items and powers. Events add more: the October 2026 Revenant event guarantees a cosmetic chest. Customization items include costumes, masks, talismans, hats, gestures and graffiti, and spirit-guardians unlock extra tactical abilities.

What a free player can unlock in a set number of matches, and how long that takes, is part of our planned hands-on sessions.

Is CRSED pay to win? What money buys

The official FAQ says the in-game shop sells a Battle Pass and gold crowns, which you can use to create new customization items, including mystic traps and rituals.

A Microsoft Store add-on, the Cuisine Royale - Starter Bundle, includes a Plague Doctor mask, the Weird West Stories book with two outfits, and 1,000 Golden Crowns. The PlayStation Store lists paid bundles such as the Nuts Splitter Bundle and The Bear of Wall Street Bundle.

The ESRB rating shown on the PlayStation Store lists In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), and the Revenant event mentions cosmetic chests. The official site and store pages do not list drop rates.

In matches, mystic powers are paid for with sinner souls collected from kills, according to the official site. The FAQ also explains a third-person camera rule meant to limit corner peeking, and EasyAntiCheat bans are permanent.

Based on what the official stores sell, we rate it as not pay to win; we will check this again when we play it ourselves.

CRSED on PC, consoles and mobile

CRSED runs on Windows PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Xbox. On PC, the official site offers its own download with the Gaijin.NET Agent launcher, which handles updates for Gaijin games, and the game is also on Steam, where it is marked Windows-only. Steam players can launch it from their library without the launcher.

On PlayStation, the store page lists both PS4 and PS5 versions, and the PS5 version shows a December 15, 2020 release. On Xbox, the Microsoft Store lists the game as CRSED: F.O.A.D. and flags it as optimized for Xbox Series X|S and as a cross-generation title.

According to the FAQ, Duo mode is available only on PC. The official pages do not say whether PC and console players share matches, and no mobile version is listed.

CRSED system requirements

Steam lists these requirements. Minimum: 64-bit Windows 10, an Intel Core i3, 10 GB of RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce 560 or AMD Radeon 77XX or better, DirectX 11, broadband internet and 12 GB of storage. Steam adds a note that for NVIDIA cards the second digit matters, so a GeForce 640 or 730 is much slower than a 560.

Recommended: 64-bit Windows 10, an Intel Core i7, 10 GB of RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 480 or better, DirectX 11 and 12 GB of storage.

The official site lists older, lighter figures: Windows 7, 8 or 10 (64-bit), an Intel Core i3 (Core i5 recommended), 8 GB of RAM, the same GPU tiers and 6 GB of free disk space. The Steam figures are the higher bar of the two.

Games like CRSED

If you want another online shooter or military game, these three from our catalog are also free to play:

NARAKA: BLADEPOINT: a battle royale built around fast melee fights and heroes with unique skills, developed by 24 Entertainment and published by NetEase Games, free on Steam since August 11, 2021.

Enlisted: a squad-based MMO shooter recreating key battles of the 20th century, from the same developer and publisher as CRSED, Darkflow Software and Gaijin, on Windows, PlayStation and Xbox.

War Thunder: Gaijin's vehicle combat game with aircraft, armored vehicles and ships, on Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation and Xbox.

• Naraka: Bladepoint
• Enlisted
• War Thunder