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Nexon Labels The First Descendant a Miss After Early Surge

The publisher cites weak player retention rooted in core design.

Overview

  • In a recent investor briefing, CEO Junghun Lee put the free-to-play looter shooter under “What Did Not Work” and said it had a “strong launch, no staying power.”
  • SteamDB data shows a July 2024 peak near 264,000 concurrent players, with recent nightly peaks around 4,900 in 2026.
  • User reception remains tepid, with about 110,000 Steam reviews averaging 57 percent, which matches the PC Metacritic score.
  • Lee said the retention problems are design issues that cannot be fixed by a simple patch and would need structural changes to the game’s mechanics.
  • Nexon is still shipping small updates, including a patch on April 2, plus seasonal characters and cosmetics, even as Steam player counts stay low and console data is less visible.