The First Descendant May Not Last

The First Descendant garnered significant attention upon its release in 2024 and quickly reached a large player base. However, it is now more clearly stated that this interest was not lasting. Nexon management has acknowledged that the game’s fundamental problems are too deep to be solved with superficial updates.

Structural Changes May Be Necessary for The First Descendant

According to statements made by Nexon CEO Junghun Lee, despite a strong launch, The First Descendant failed to retain players. Lee explicitly states that the game’s problems cannot be solved with simple patches and that “structural changes” are needed. This indicates that the current game design may need to be radically re-evaluated.

The data clearly reveals this decline. The game had reached 264,000 concurrent players at launch, but that number has now dropped to around 5,000. Similarly, there’s a significant drop on Twitch as well. The game, which achieved high viewership numbers at launch, now has a much more limited audience.

The situation is not much different in terms of reviews. Despite receiving hundreds of thousands of user reviews on Steam, The First Descendant remains at a “mixed” rating level. Its Metacritic scores also don’t rise above average. This shows that the game hasn’t achieved lasting success with a wide audience.

Nexon’s statements don’t mean the game will be completely shelved, but they reveal that continuing in its current state is difficult. New decisions regarding The First Descendant will determine its fate. For now, the clearest thing is that a strong start alone is not enough.

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