news 
‘The First Descendant’ Is Now Performing ‘Below Expectations’ For Nexon
Nexon’s recent quarterly report has revealed that their live-service game, The First Descendant, is now performing “below expectations” due to a significant decline in traffic. This drastic drop is attributed to the lack of fresh content, which has led to a severe loss of players.
Initially, The First Descendant showed promise, boasting an impressive 264,860 peak players on Steam seven months ago. However, this number has plummeted to around 11,000 daily peaks, representing a staggering 96% decline in just a short period. This is alarming, especially considering the game’s live-service nature.
The developers have attempted to cater to their player base by adding new content, such as bikini skins and a hot tub feature that promises jiggle physics in the future. While it may be understandable for single-player games with limited replay value, this approach may not be sufficient to stem the tide of departing players in the case of a live-service game.
In reality, The First Descendant’s problems run much deeper. The lack of content and repetitive gameplay mechanics have led to exhausting grinds and uninteresting activities. Characters often don’t feel worth leveling, as many are overpowered or underwhelming, making progress feel slow or unrewarding. New bosses are frequently centered around individual characters, which is an ineffective format. Furthermore, some characters have been overly dominant in various game modes.
While it’s true that The First Descendant has made efforts to address these issues by tweaking drop rates and promising further changes, the damage may already be done. It seems unlikely that this decline can be reversed without a major overhaul or significant expansion of content.
At present, it appears uncertain what steps Nexon will take to reinvigorate interest in The First Descendant.
Source: http://www.forbes.com
