The First Descendant hits 10 million players in a week despite rough start with 52% positive Steam reviews: "We will do our best to bring you great experiences"

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Initial server issues clearly didn't put players off too much

Four characters aiming at a huge, mechanical enemy in The First Descendant.
(Image credit: Nexon)

Despite launching to 'Mixed' user reviews on Steam, Nexon's new third-person looter shooter, The First Descendant, is doing really well when it comes to its player count, as the developer has revealed it hit 10 million players in just seven days.

In a statement posted to Twitter today, Nexon thanks players for their "tremendous support" so far. "It means everything to us," the developer writes. "We will do our best to bring you great experiences. Can't wait to continue this journey together!"

When The First Descendant launched last week, it was so popular that it even managed to dethrone Elden Ring as Steam's top seller, despite the action RPG's recent spike thanks to the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. However, it didn't have the smoothest launch – server issues temporarily made the shooter unplayable, and Nexon even boosted the amount of gold, XP, Kyper Shards, and weapon mastery XP players could earn for a few days as an apology for problems like frame rate drops and challenges not tracking properly. 

Those things aren't the end of The First Descendant's issues, though, as the community is currently clamoring for a vote-to-kick option to eject semi-AFK players who're hoovering up rewards without actually contributing to their team's efforts. It's a tricky problem, as options to kick players out of games can be abused – you'd hate to get constantly thrown out of matches just because you kept running into players trying to waste your time. However, it's clear that something needs to be done, as the issue is currently driving the hard-working players up the wall. 

Even so, with the amount of players currently on board across PC and consoles, this is a promising start for Nexon's new release, and if all of the current issues are ironed out, The First Descendant's Steam review score could start turning around from its 52% positive rating. For the time being, if you're just getting started, be sure to check out our guide to the best First Descendant characters and how to unlock them. 

The First Descendant plans to change icons that almost exactly matched Destiny 2 designs: "We have taken the concerns raised seriously."

Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.