The First Descendant publisher warns game is officially performing “below expectations”

The First Descendant has been a lot of fun since it launched in July 2024, and the developers have done a good job listening to fans and continually updating the game. However, despite the excellent support and communication, the player count has dropped by a whopping 95%. While TFD fans needn’t be worried about the game being abandoned, there is the warning from Nexon that The First Descendant is performing “below expectations” due to the nosedive in player retention.

The First Descendant is performing “below expectations”

Nexon shared their Q4 and Full-Year 2024 Earnings report on February 13^th. This discusses the state of every IP they are involved with, and it was a good year for Nexon as they “delivered record-breaking full-year revenue of ¥446.2 billion, up 5% year over year on an as-reported basis, and up 1% on a constant-currency basis”.

While MapleStory, Dungeon & Fighter, and FC were highlighted as the three largest franchises contributing to Nexon’s revenue, The First Descendant was remarked as a bit of disappointment.

Per Nexon’s report, “Q4 revenue was below our expectations due to a decline in traffic”. As for why the player count has dropped, Nexon believe it is “attributable to a lack of fresh content”.

We can’t see the player count for PlayStation and Xbox, but the decline on Steam is undeniable thanks to Steam charts. Valve’s database shows the game’s player retention on Steam launched with 264,860, dropped to 63,014 in August, further declined to 15,273 in November, and, as of February 2025, currently hovers around 11,000.

While the player count is disappointing, Nexon’s report says, “the Season 2 Update released in December has improved retention, which creates a good foundation for the second episode of Season 2 scheduled in March”.

Although performing “below expectations” isn’t good, players don’t need to worry about TFD dying in the immediate future. During the most recent livestream, the developer announced that the size of the team is growing, and they are working with additional studios.

In addition, the recently released hot-spring skins have proven to be a massive monetary success, and Nexon are planning to release skins more frequently. Season 2 Episode 2 should also hopefully bring a lot of players back in March with the release of Serena plus photo mode, a labrador Fellow, and so much more.

For more The First Descendant, we have a guide to the best skills and loadout for Viessa, along with the best skills, gear, and mods for the hugely popular Bunny. We also have a guide for Freyna along with fundamental tips for beginners.