You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here
NEXON’s looter shooter The First Descendant is attempting to claw back players with the introduction of “jiggle physics” and a wealth of new content. Unfortunately, it seems the studio’s attempts to entice gamers isn’t working as the game continues to drain player counts with every passing day.
The First Descendant player count drops
With Season 3 promising brand-new characters and massive improvements, there was hope that The First Descendant could be the next Destiny. As it turns out, the game is quickly becoming modern Destiny as players leave the game en-masse.
Via journalist Paul Tassi, who also covers other live-service loot-based games, NEXON’s live-service game has lost 95.5% of Steam players in just six months. While the game launched to massive player counts, hitting an all-time peak of 264,860 concurrents on Steam alone, the game now sees a daily peak of just 12,366.
🚀 Save Up to $1,200 on the Samsung Galaxy S25!
Pre-order now and save big with trade-in and Samsung credit. Limited time only!
*Includes trade-in value + $300 Samsung credit.
The First Descendant is far from the only live-service video game suffering from dwindling player counts. After all, the aforementioned Destiny 2 has seen a massive departure of players since the release of The Final Shape, and new arcs are only seeing further declines.
While NEXON’s game has a strong 2025 roadmap of new characters, skins, weapons and gameplay mechanics, updates are failing to catch hold of existing players, let alone new ones. Without any growrth, despite TikTok adverts and other marketing schemes, TFD may not last as long as its core fanbase will want. At least it’s outlasting Concord.
For more live-service game coverage, read about the highly successful Helldivers 2, and the one restriction that will be given to future crossover events. You can also read about the latest update for Diablo 4 which brings a whole host of Witch Doctor abilities to the game, but not the actual class they’re based on.
The First Descendant
- Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s): Action, Adventure, RPG