Following the Capital Markets Briefing, The First Descendant has been surrounded by rumors and concerns. In response, the developer hosted a livestream, detailing its long-term plans and teasing upcoming content, including a new Descedant, Raven.
On April 3, The First Descendant‘s director, Minseok Joo, and community manager Jason hosted a dev talk to address rumors raised by the Capital Markets Briefing, in which Nexon stated that The First Descendant had a strong launch but no staying power.
“We take this comment very seriously as a call for us to pursue high-impact innovation,” Joo said about the game having low retention. “To address this issue, we held in-depth discussions with management late last year and are preparing a long-term roadmap.” Titled “Completing the Game”, the roadmap addresses core issues, including a lack of content, endgame, poor balance, and a steep learning curve.
While the roadmap itself is still in the works, the developer briefly discussed its phases. Phase one is the overhaul of the core game, like farming loops and endgame structure. This is currently in the works and will be completed by Season 4. Phase two improves the game’s accessibility and early missions. Finally, phase three builds upon the new foundation to “properly deliver what TFD originally intended to show.”
Among the newly revealed additions is a mode where you earn resources during a limited time, enhance abilities, and challenge the final commander. This mode aims to provide the fun of choosing random abilities, hinting at a more roguelite experience. A completely new type of content that the developer teased is where you can become a Colossus. It’s still in the early stages of development, so no more details have been revealed.
In the Q&A session, we also got a first look at Raven, the new Descendant likely releasing after Ultimate Esiemo. As the name suggests, she has a more strict, darker look, wielding a ghostly gun, which could be her unique weapon. Joo added that the team is considering releasing a new male Descendant. The release would be timed around a female Ultimate character (next one is Ultimate Hailey, releasing after Raven).
The remaining content has already been revealed in the 2026 roadmap. Onslaught is a round-based horde mode, which culminates in a battle against a Colossus. Void Intercept battles are getting a customizable difficulty, and Season 4 features a mega dungeon with immersive experiences and large-scale gameplay.
Our current roadmap runs until Season 4, where we will face Karel in the final battle. The developer emphasized that Season 4 isn’t the end of the game. Instead, a new story will begin. More details about the game and the next update will be coming in the livestream on April 14.
