Nexon has admitted that its game, The First Descendant, hasn’t been successful, less than two years after it launched on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.
During a recent presentation to investors, the game developer listed “What Did Not Work” as a heading on a slide. “The First Descendant” was specifically mentioned in a table, highlighting issues with keeping players engaged over time.
Company President and CEO Junghun Lee described the game’s initial success as a “strong launch, no staying power.” He explained that it suffered from the same problem as the developer’s other game, Dungeon & Fighter Mobile – players didn’t stick around for very long because the game lacked features to keep them engaged.
These aren’t problems that can be quickly fixed with a simple update; they need fundamental changes to how the game works.
According to SteamDB data, the PC game The First Descendant had a promising start, reaching over 264,000 players at its launch. However, interest dropped off quickly. After three months, peak player numbers fell to around 25,000. Currently, in 2026, the game typically sees between 5,000 and 10,000 players online at its busiest times.
As a fan, it’s interesting to see the player numbers, and the developers have pointed out something I’ve noticed too – PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S often seem to have more people playing than the PC version, even though that’s the only public data we can really look at.
The First Descendant was released as a free-to-play game, making it available to everyone. However, critics weren’t very impressed – the PC version received a score of 57 on Metacritic. Our review of the PS5 version was even more critical, giving it a 3/10 due to repetitive missions, poor weapon quality, and a lack of satisfying character development.
This game feels like a distraction – something to do with your hands while you’re chatting with friends online. It seems built to encourage you to spend money to avoid actually playing, which makes you wonder what the game is even for.
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2026-04-02 15:06