When is The First Descendant release date? A new looter shooter from Nexon is on its way, and if its popularity during the first hours of its crossplay open beta test is anything to go by, it appears Nexon has struck gold once again.
In The First Descendant, you pick one of a range of futuristic Descendants to tackle a series of brutal enemies. Even though The First Descendant characters have abilities of their own, this is a looter shooter, so there are randomly generated weapons to level the playing field as well. Read on for more news on the action game, including its speculative full release date.
The First Descendant release date window
The First Descendant release date window is Summer 2024. A trailer revealed this timeframe during The Game Awards 2023, and a new tweet on May 3, 2024, confirmed the deadline is still on track.
The official tweet also confirmed the release platforms for the game, alongside the fact that The First Descendant is to be a free PC game across Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox.
We originally believed The First Descendant would launch a few months after the open beta. MapleStory Evolution was released just one month after a closed beta test. Meanwhile, KartRider Drift opened up for a crossplay beta in August 2022, only to be released just four months later. Given the next and final beta for the First Descendant taking place in late May, we could see a release date in June 2024.
While Nexon’s main priority would be to release The First Descendant when it’s bug-free and ready to go, the game’s release schedule needs to be considered. If there’s a big AAA game on the horizon, Nexon won’t want to release The First Descendant near it.
The First Descendant beta
If you missed it the last time, the final The First Descendant technical test has been confirmed for May 2024. This last The First Descendant beta before the full release date falls between May 25 and May 26, as confirmed in an official tweet, giving just two short days to get some more practice in before the game launches in full.
The last First Descendant beta ran between September 19 – September 25 and gave players a chance to be among the first to learn about the Descendants and their abilities. According to Nexon, “almost two million” players took part, and the development team received ample beta feedback and suggestions for improvement. It’s currently unclear whether another open beta is planned ahead of launch.
If you want to know what the developers thought about the open beta, you can read their detailed notes on The First Descendant Steam page. There, they explore the feedback they received and how they plan to tweak the missions, UI, and gameplay mechanics.
There’s also a Dev Note post in early February which goes into a lot of detail on the feedback and a set of field improvements that the developer is making, such as improvements to co-op play, encrypted vaults, Vulgus Recon Outposts, and void fragments, as well as a fusion reactor to use them in. It also notes that additional difficulty modes are coming, as well as a drop rotation system and the ability to request help during missions.
The First Descendant battle pass
During the same stream that confirmed the second open beta, Lee Beom-Jun also revealed The First Descendant will have a battle pass. He says that “battle pass will be the main product, and as you might expect, we are also preparing a lot of character cosmetics”. He also mentioned that the game’s virtual currency is shared across different platforms and that The First Descendant does have cross-save functionality.
The First Descendant trailers
Already everyone’s favorite Descendant, Bunny is an electric character – and we mean that quite literally. As you can see from her introductory trailer, Bunny can create electricity, and we’re assured she’s also the fastest playable character. We’re pretty sure she’s gonna spark something in the game’s fanbase.
If Bunny is a little too… excitable for you, then perhaps Sharen is more your speed. Her trailer certainly delivers a far more somber tone, as it starts with the Descendant’s limbless body rigged up to some sort of machine as her voiceover says, “If there were a God, he wouldn’t have left me like this.” Oof. If she channels even half of that pain into battle, this stealthy assassin is bound to be a solid Descendant choice.
A further trailer premiered at The Game Awards in 2023, showing the mystical world and giving us a glimpse at an apparent friendship between the Descendant and various characters before she turns on them, firing blue lasers. A massive turtle-like boss is also shown, which could prove a fun challenge in the upcoming multiplayer game. This trailer also revealed the release date window of Summer 2024.
The First Descendant endgame
In a dev note post on the official First Descendant blog at the end of April 2024, we got our first look at Instance Dungeons, known in-game as “Reclamation Operations”, which will be the vast bulk of the endgame content. These dungeons are intended for single-player or co-op play, with adjustable difficulty levels per number of participants. Each one is accessible via a terminal in the Albion hub area.
Upon selecting your Instance Dungeon, you can add or remove options that buff enemies and nerf you and your companions. This increases your overall kill score percentage and likely affects the odds of getting top-tier loot.
The First Descendant system requirements
The First Descendants system requirements are a mixed bag. The game is easy to run, but the bar is raised quite a bit for the recommended specs.
There is still plenty of time for these to change, and if anything, they are more likely to increase, given that The First Descendant is an Unreal Engine 5 title.
That’s everything you need to know about The First Descendant release date and gameplay right now. We’ll be adding more to this list as we get closer to the game’s full release, including a list of all the playable Descendants and the best First Descendant Bunny build. In the meantime, take a look at some of our other favorite RPG games or the best PC games right now.