New free-to-play looter shooter The First Descendant hasn’t had the easiest of starts, but that clearly hasn’t deterred players who are looking for a new live service fix. Nexon has just revealed that it has racked up ten million players since it launched, which is an impressive achievement given the fierce competition that it faces and some if its struggles at launch.
Since it dropped last week, The First Descendant has consistently remained one of the most popular free Steam games, with a concurrent PC player count that is yet to dip below 100,000. This new ‘ten million players’ statistic of course covers console platforms as well as PC, but that Steam data gives you a good indication of how things are going.
“Thank you all for your tremendous support and love,” Nexon says in a social media post announcing this milestone. “It means everything to us. We will do our best to bring you great experiences. Can’t wait to continue this journey together!”
I’ve got to admit I’m pleasantly surprised that the co-op game has managed to attract such a large amount of players given that its biggest rival, Destiny 2, has found a decent run of form again following its excellent The Final Shape expansion. While they are of different genres, some other notable new free PC games have dropped recently as well, such as Once Human and Zenless Zone Zero.
The most impressive feat, however, is that Nexon has managed to shrug off some serious wobbles during the game’s infancy. Its opening day was marred with technical issues and delays in giving people premium currency, resulting in Nexon compensating players. The game has also faced accusations of plagiarism, with a lot of the game’s icons bearing a very close resemblance to those found in Destiny 2 – something Nexon has now said it’s going to address.
Nevertheless, players are eating it up. While it’s almost inevitable that its player count will begin to drop away soon, it seems The First Descendant won’t be the quick flash in the pan that many (myself included) feared.
If you’re not among the ten million to have jumped in so far, this primer on all The First Descendant characters will get you up to speed with who you can play as. We’re also keeping tabs on The First Descendant codes, and will let you know if and when freebies become available.
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