The First Descendant overcomes bad reviews to hit mega player milestone

Nexon is probably wiping its tears with dollar bills.

Enzo in The First Descendant
Screenshot by Dot Esports

Despite receiving mixed reviews from major gaming outlets, The First Descendant has grown steadily since its launch and reached 10 million players.

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This news was announced on The First Descendant’s official X (formerly Twitter) page, where the developer thanked the growing playerbase and promised to bring a great experience.

The First Descendant is currently sitting at a critic Metascore of 57 (PC), which is far from ideal for a live-service game. The user score isn’t fairing much better at 5.1. The game has been rightfully criticized for its lackluster story, repetitive gameplay, overpriced microtransactions, and drawing inspiration from other similar games like Destiny 2 and Warframe. The game has also had several issues since its launch, including a bug that prevented players from receiving their purchased in-game currency.

The First Descendant is thanking players for a successful launch
Well done, The First Descendant. Image via Nexon

All things considered, the game shouldn’t have as many players as it has, yet more players seem to be flocking to Nexon’s looter shooter.

So, what is The First Descendant’s secret for drawing in so many players in such a short time? For starters, the game had several beta tests, showing off the gameplay and proving the developers were listening to the community’s feedback. The game is available on PC and all current and last-gen consoles (excluding Nintendo Switch), allowing crossplay and cross-progression. But more than anything else, the game is free to play, with no progression content behind a paywall (players can still pay money to speed up progression).

The First Descendant has only been out for a little over two weeks and is still enjoying its honeymoon period. We’ll have to wait and see how many of the 10 million players stick around after a few months to truly call The First Descendant a success. 

The First Descendant is off to a great start, and we hope it keeps this momentum up with future updates and player count. 

Author
Image of Aleksandar Perišić
Aleksandar Perišić
Staff Writer at Dot Esports. Aleksandar has been gaming ever since he can remember and has been writing game reviews long before he joined Dot Esports. He loves MMORPGS, Nintendo and Indie games. He also steals gifts on Christmas but then gives them back when everyone starts to sing.