The First Descendant devs respond to plagiarism claims: Destiny “served as an inspiration”

Nexon, the developer of The First Descendant, has just released a statement following accusations that it had plagiarised Destiny’s iconography for its own designs.

The issue was first brought to light by Paul Tassi, a journalist for Forbes, who had drawn clear comparisons between icons in both Destiny and The First Descendant. You can read in-depth about the allegations here.

The First Descendant, as a looter shooter game, was developed with a deep affection and respect for other games in the genre. Destiny 2, being a globally renowned looter shooter game, is also personally admired and respected by the team, and it has served as an inspiration during the development process. We have taken the concerns raised seriously and decided to make adjustments to ensure that the imagery may appear similar clearly reflects the unique identity of our game. We will continue to improve the game for fans of the looter shooter genre.

NEXON

Surprisingly, Nexon didn’t deny the accusations. Even considering the absolutely obvious similarities, I had half expected there to be a carefully constructed PR response absolving the team from any wrong-doing. That was not the case at all, and instead you have a pretty honest admission that this is a serious issue, and that work will be done to rectify it.

It should be noted too, this seems to be specifically in-response to the icons in question. Our piece raised several similarities between general design concepts for characters and weapons, which is just as – if not more – important as the icons.

In light of the multi-million dollar payout that Nexon were forced to pay earlier this year, it looks like the company is trying to handle its public controversies a little better, so at least there’s that.

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