The First Descendant lays out a long-term rebuild, with core changes planned for Season 4

Nexon says The First Descendant is getting a broader rebuild, starting with changes aimed at the game’s core structure in Season 4 this summer. In a recent developer livestream, game director Minseok Joo and community manager Jason said the team is working on what it called a plan for “completing the game” after ongoing complaints about thin endgame content, balance issues, and a rough onboarding experience.

According to the developer livestream, the first phase focuses on overhauling the endgame, the farming loop that leads into it, and the overall reward balance. That’s the only phase with a release target right now, and it’s tied to Season 4.

After that, Nexon says phase two will rework the main story and early missions to make the opening hours more appealing to new players. The studio admitted the current early game has pushed a lot of people away. A third phase is planned after that, though the team didn’t give much detail beyond saying it will build toward what The First Descendant was originally meant to be. Neither later phase has a date yet.

The stream also touched on Season 4 content beyond the larger overhaul. Nexon mentioned an Onslaught Mode built around wave defense, changes to intercept battles, a “mega dungeon” centered on the final fight with Karel, and a trial mode where players gather resources, power up, and then take on a boss.

The First Descendant is a free-to-play co-op looter shooter, so Nexon trying to fix retention problems at both the start and the end of the game makes sense. For now, though, the clearest takeaway is that Season 4 is supposed to do more than add another batch of content. It’s meant to address the parts of the game players have been criticizing since launch.