The First Descendant lead explains that the shooter's microtransactions didn't work properly at launch because too many purchases were made all at once

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Suffering from success?

The First Descendant crossplay
(Image credit: Nexon)

It turns out that The First Descendant was delaying shipping microtransaction purchases to players because there were simply so many of them at launch.

When free-to-play third-person looter shooter The First Descendant launched earlier this week, it looked like a certified hit, immediately dethroning Elden Ring at the top of Steam's best-sellers chart. It wasn't without problems, though - players granted it a 'Mixed' overall review score at launch, complaining that one prevailing issue was microtransaction purchases not actually going through.

In the video below, lead designer Lee Beom-jun apologizes for the issue and elaborates on what went on behind the scenes. "There are a lot of things I need to apologize for. First of all, there was a delay in the payment of Caliber from the first day. The number of purchases was so high that the server was overloaded, so it took a long time for us to process it. We should have prepared well in advance, but we're very sorry that we couldn't," Lee says.

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The First Descendant's Caliber is the third-person shooter's microtransaction currency. You can use this microtransaction currency to upgrade your acquired characters, known as Descendants, and effectively skip out on grinding your way through large parts of The First Descendant if you want to get the late-game action quicker.

Lee also adds that The First Descendant has seen login issues for players. "Microsoft Azure was dealing with a service failure urgently, but there was an accident, so we had to do a large server inspection. The development team managed to solve the problem by staying up all night, but I apologize again," Lee explains. It sounds like the development team needs a good night's sleep after that.

The lead designer reveals that a hotfix is being prepared for The First Descendant and that performance issues on PS5 will hopefully be solved through this patch. "We plan to improve client and server stability. In addition, we are planning to fix various bugs, especially because there are many complaints that the Nexon logo sound that comes out when the game is running is too loud, so we are going to fix it," Lee concludes.

Check out our guide on how to complete Follow Their Traces in The First Descendant if you're looking to fulfill the Bunny quest.

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.