Never underestimate the allure of free stuff. If you’re dubious about Destiny 2, doubtful of The Division, and wary of Warframe, a new looter shooter from South Korean giant Nexon might be enough to finally lure you in – it seems to be working on everyone else. Just two hours since it went live, The First Descendant has already attracted more than 170,000 concurrent players and jumped to the near top of the Steam popularity chart. The reviews are mixed, but the co-op third-person squad game is nevertheless soaring, climbing above Team Fortress 2, GTA 5, and the resurgent Palworld in terms of current player base.
In our own The First Descendent preview, we discussed the free PC game at length. The focus here is on teamwork and more straightforward instant action compared to some of its genre rivals. A combination of third-person shooter, RPG, and high sci-fi, The First Descendant was launched on Steam today, Tuesday July 2, at precisely 12am PDT / 7am UTC. According to data from SteamDB, by 2am PDT / 9am UTC, The First Descendant had already attracted just over 170,000 concurrent players, catapulting it to number six on the global Steam most-played chart.
In terms of The First Descendant Steam reviews, the response is somewhat less enthusiastic. Of the 1,841 player responses posted so far, 53% are positive, and the game has been thusly assigned an official ‘mixed’ rating on Valve’s platform. Some respondents complain of performance issues and crashes, expectable problems when trying to access a new game with a substantial initial player base.
Other players report that when they purchase Caliber, The First Descendants bespoke in-game currency, money is deducted from their accounts but the Caliber itself is not delivered. In these cases, players are advised to simply wait a little longer – given the large amount of people accessing the game and using the in-game store, the delivery of purchases is delayed, but your Caliber should appear on your account eventually.
If you’re going to try it out, we’ve got a complete guide on how to get all the The First Descendant unlock characters. Likewise, we can tell you how to quickly get loads of The First Descendant credits, to make the early game much more explosive.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.