The example not to follow for Nexon
In a major review of his company, Junghun Lee returned to Nexon’s upcoming line-up while detailing the group’s strategy for its licenses. And to better present the way in which some of the series will evolve, the CEO first comes back to what did not work with Dungeon & Fighter Mobile And The First Descendant. He explains that despite the good launches of these two games, the retention rate is not good today, and it would take much more than a simple patch to fix it :
“ Dungeon & Fighter Mobile had a meteoric launch in 2024, before running out of steam. Its loyalty resources were insufficient to retain players in the long term. Same observation for The First Descendant: a promising launch, but no longevity. These are design problems that cannot be solved by a simple update; they require structural changes to gameplay mechanics. »
He then takes the example of MapleStory who serves as a good student here and an example to follow for the future, explaining that it is by developing the license in several areas that it manages to attract the public, whether by creating general public experiences while strengthening the PC experience or by offering extensions for veterans. Expand the license Dungeon & Fighter also went through the exit of The First Berserker: Khazanwhich could be seen as a gateway to the international market. In short, in addition to having to rethink structural problems on some of its licenses, Nexon also wants to diversify its approaches.
What does this mean today for The First Descendant ? The title does have a hard core, but recent evaluations on Steam show that the public is not necessarily delighted with the experience offered. Seeing the CEO of Nexon recognize that the game does not have significant enough traction sounds like an admission of failure, and is cause for concern about the future of the series, especially when it is only cited on this occasion in the group’s balance sheet.