Nexon’s free-to-download looter shooter The First Descendant had a massive launch on Steam, but players have been lashing out over its overly aggressive microtransactions.
The First Descendant is a Warframe-like action game designed to be played cooperatively with friends, with progression tied to a deep-rooted grind of completing missions and defeating bosses. Check out IGN’s ongoing The First Descendant review to find out what we think of the game so far.
But it was the monetization that sparked debate in the early days of The First Descendant’s launch, as well as issues with getting players the rewards they deserve, that forced Nexon to offer compensation.
Korean company Nexon, the maker of other multiplayer-focused free-to-play games like Kartrider: Drift and Maplestory, has launched The First Descendant with a fully stocked online store that sells everything you’d expect from a game of this type: a premium battle pass, new characters, premium character and weapon skins, and even experience boosts and increased inventory capacity.
The new characters, called Descendants, are sold for real money, but the premium virtual currency, Caliber, is sold in bundles that cost just less than the new character itself, forcing players to buy more virtual currency than necessary and, as a result, end up with too much.
Calibre can only be obtained by purchasing it with real money or by purchasing the Premium Battle Pass. There is currently no way to obtain it solely through gameplay.
While you can save a lot of time getting new characters, you can save time by spending money to buy them. You can also pay to get immediate access to an “ultimate descendant,” which is a descendant with better stats and an exclusive skin. Expect to pay upwards of $55 for one.
The First Descendant also locks a paint to a skin, meaning that if you want to reuse a paint you’ve already obtained, perhaps from the premium Battle Pass, you’ll have to spend real money for it again.
Some players have called The First Descendant “predatory” due to its monetization, while others have said it’s a typical Nexon game. On Steam, The First Descendant has received a “mixed” rating from users, with most negative reviews focusing on the microtransactions, but others also give their verdict on the game’s gameplay and mechanics. One Steam user called First Descendant “microtransaction hell.” Another said, “This game came out with more real-world items than actual gameplay mechanics.”
Even those who spent money on microtransactions are having a hard time, Nexon said, apologizing to players who have yet to receive the items they paid for by offering them compensation. “We will continue to strive to provide a more stable service,” Nexon said.
Here are the details of the compensation:
- Increased Gold Gain +30% (Duration 3 days)
- Gain Kyper Shard Boost +30% (Duration 3 days)
- Descendants EXP Gain +30% (Duration 3 days)
- Weapon Mastery EXP gain +30% (duration 3 days)
- 2 x Matte Red Paints
Despite all this, The First Descendant has reached a concurrent player count of 229,257 on Steam, which is enough to place it in the top 5 most played games on Valve’s platform. The game has also been released on PlayStation and Xbox consoles, but Sony and Microsoft do not make the player count available.
Wesley is IGN’s UK News Editor. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or in confidence at wyp100@proton.me.