The First Descendant Crosses Major Player Milestone

The First Descendant, the latest triple-A release from Korean publisher Nexon, has proven to be a hit, as the free-to-play looter-shooter has officially reached a major player milestone less than two weeks after its launch. It appears that the somewhat rocky launch of The First Descendant hasn’t been enough to threaten its popularity so far, which is an encouraging sign for both the future of the multiplayer game and its potential longevity as a live service title.

Initially announced in 2022 alongside a brief CGI teaser trailer, The First Descendant finally made its way into the hands of gamers worldwide nearly two years later, on July 2, 2024. The game, which puts players in the shoes of superhuman beings called Descendants, has accrued an impressive online following since its launch. Upon its release on PC, The First Descendant skyrocketed to the top of Steam’s player count charts and garnered nearly 230,000 concurrent users on that platform alone. Since then, the free-to-play live service shooter has maintained a steady player count above 150,000 on PC.

Though The First Descendant‘s popularity on Steam was evident, it was initially unclear how well the game was faring across all platforms, including PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Now, thanks to a recent statistic shared by Nexon, fans have a better idea about the looter shooter’s overall popularity. According to a Twitter post from the game’s official Twitter account, The First Descendent was able to cross the 10 million player threshold only seven days after its launch across PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.

The First Descendant Reaches 10 Million Players In Just 7 Days

Celebrating this milestone, the developers of The First Descendant took the opportunity to reiterate their commitment to supporting the popular free-to-play shooter with more quality content in the future. “Thank you all for your tremendous support and love. It means everything to us. We will do our best to bring you great experiences. Can’t wait to continue this journey together,” the post reads.

Though The First Descendent has gotten off to a great start commercially speaking, the critical reception of the game hasn’t been as strong. Reviews for the multiplayer title have been divisive across the board, with the game currently sitting at an underwhelming 55 on OpenCritic and brandishing ‘Mixed’ reviews on Steam. Though The First Descendant does do some things differently than other looter shooters, some players have nonetheless criticized it for being far too repetitive. Meanwhile, others have called the game out for having what they consider to be overly aggressive monetization. Ultimately, only time will tell if these complaints will hinder The First Descendant from maintaining its popularity in the long run.

The First Descendant

Nexon’s The First Descendant is a free-to-play looter shooter that also incorporates action RPG elements. Focusing on cooperative play, the game allows up to four players to work together. 

Released

July 2, 2024

Developer(s)

Nexon Games

Genre(s)

Action RPG , Third-Person Shooter

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Engine

Unreal Engine 5

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