Nexon CEO Junghun Lee has declared the looter-shooter "The First Descendant" a fundamental failure in terms of long-term player engagement. Despite a massive launch in July 2024, the Korean project has completely lost its momentum.
The crash is a mathematical reality. "The First Descendant" peaked at 264.000 concurrent players on Steam at its launch in July 2024. Today, the title languishes at around 5.000 users. This isn't a normal flattening of the curve. This is a clinical death by degrees.
The Twitch platform reflects this lack of interest. From 160.000 viewers at launch, barely 200 remained recently. Nexon CEO Junghun Lee addresses this in the current financial report He doesn't mince words. He speaks openly about a lack of "staying power." The project has missed its mark.
The end of cosmetic illusion
The problems run deep in the foundation. Lee emphasizes that simple updates or bug fixes won't salvage anything. The game needs structural changes to its core mechanics. The retention mechanics weren't strong enough to keep players engaged after the initial hype. A fate that "The First Descendant" shares with Dungeon & Fighter Mobile.
Critics and audiences alike agree on its mediocrity. A Metascore of 57 and a user rating of 6.2 attest to a soulless game. On the PlayStation Store (3.97), 59.000 reviews give it a "Mixed" rating. Simply building a formulaic third-person shooter and relying on erotic elements isn't enough.
Nexon tried to mask the lack of gameplay depth with "scandalous outfits." Explicit attire as a substitute for content. The strategy backfired. Players might be briefly dazzled by aesthetics, but the grind requires substance. And that's completely missing here.
Management is now demanding radical restructuring, without specifying a concrete timeline. Whether the studio has the resources for a complete overhaul remains questionable. The looter-shooter market doesn't tolerate boredom.
Who would have thought that skimpy outfits couldn't replace playful depth?
Both seem to fit in Stellar Blade xD
Seriously though… if they all just released decent games with good flow and mechanics, maybe even as single-player games WITHOUT Soulslike elements, AND featured attractive female characters, it would work.
Stellar Blade was also a hit and would probably have been even more successful without the Soulslike elements, like Devil May Cry.