The First Descendant FAQ: Release date, cross-play, microtransactions, and other questions answered (2024)

Many were saying it was a slow year for gaming, but I'm having a hard time keeping up with all the games released. As someone who loves XDefiant and recently found their love for a much improved Fallout 76, I'm staring at the release calendar wondering how I'm going to have time for other games like Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, Once Human, and coming soon, The First Descendant.

When two of the games I'm already playing are live service titles, and two of the games I'm keen for are also live service, I'm beginning to think I won't be able to play everything. Two is already tough, but four? I'll have to start creating a schedule for specific days, so I can hit everything.

What is The First Descendant

Best answer: The First Descendant is a free-to-play take on the genre that Destiny and Warframe popularized. First Descendant is an open-world looter-shooter MMO-lite. Expect a mashup of cooperative content that will test the limits of player builds as they take on an ever-increasing level of difficulty across a wide range of content.

• Back to the top ⤴

When does The First Descendant release?

Best answer: The First Descendant releases on July 2, 2024 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Steam, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4.

The First Descendant was first shown to the world back in July of 2022. It was only a few months later when The First Descendant went into closed testing. Players from around the world were eligible to sign up.

Since then, more and better gameplay has been exhibited to the masses, and a few more tests were available to gamers. A couple of weeks before Summer Game Fest, NEXON Games teased a release date reveal was on the horizon. It was then showcased at Summer Game Fest.

• Back to the top ⤴

The First Descendant countdown

How much is the First Descendant and will there be microtransactions?

Best answer: The First Descendant is free-to-play. While The First Descendant won't cost anything for the base game, there will be microtransactions, including battle passes.

When The First Descendant was announced as free-to-play, there were plenty of people worried as to how the game would be monetized. Given the track record of NEXON with games such as Maple Story, one can only imagine the kinds of things NEXON could potentially do. The main concern is whether the game will be pay-to-win.

For those unfamiliar, pay-to-win is a style of free-to-play game where microtransactions can be made that progress the player forward in some way. Think of it like a time skip compared to everyone else. These are more prevalent in mobile gaming, but lately, things have been getting worse on other platforms.

Maybe you're out of event tokens for some game; just buy some more and continue playing the event! Perhaps you ran out of stamina; again, buy some more. Maybe you want that shiny new weapon, but it takes another 40 hours of grinding to get? Pay $40, and it's yours!

Those are the types of transactions people are worried about, and rightfully so. Hopefully, the microtransactions are balanced around cosmetics only. However, I feel that would have already been announced if it were the case. That's an easy thing to announce for free brownie PR points.

• Back to the top ⤴

What platforms is The First Descendant coming to?

Best answer: The First Descendant is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4.

NEXON Games announced that The First Descendant would be coming back to PC, current, and previous generation consoles during its initial reveal. Surprisingly, they've stuck to that. In an era of gaming where previous generation consoles are getting their releases either canceled or are no longer being developed for, it's surprising to see a game launching for last gen 11 years after their initial release.

In fact, I believe this is the first and only announced title coming to last-generation consoles that use Unreal Engine 5. The same engine that powers the graphical powerhouse of Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is the same engine that's going to be running The First Descendant on original Xbox One hardware. That's impressive!

• Back to the top ⤴

Is The First Descendant coming to Game Pass?

Best answer: No, The First Descendant is already a free-to-play game. There is currently no reason for it to come to Game Pass. However, there could be some added benefits down the road.

Since The First Descendant is already free-to-play, there's no reason for the game to be coming to Game Pass. As it stands, the game will not be going to Game Pass. However, that doesn't mean we won't see some other sort of partnership.

There are plenty of free-to-play games, such as Apex Legends, that offer benefits to Game Pass users. Things like cosmetic skins or booster packs are regularly available to those who redeem them on the platform. We'll update this document if any such partnership occurs.

• Back to the top ⤴

Will the First Descendant have single player or offline?

Best answer: Yes and no, The First Descendant can be played solo, but players will have to remain online to play.

The First Descendant is playable for solo players. While I can't speak to the extent as to how far people can make it, it's been reported that running solo is possible. However, it may be more challenging to do so.

Due to the interconnectivity of the title and the nature of the in-game mechanics, The First Descendant cannot be played offline. This is to create both a seamless online experience and protection against cheats, hacks, or memory editing. Hopefully, the servers will be robust on release day!

• Back to the top ⤴

Will The First Descendant have cross-play or cross-progression?

Best answer: Yes, The First Descendant will have both cross-play and cross-progression between all platforms.

In an interview with God is Geek, Producer for The First Descendant Beom-jun Lee stated both would be coming, “Yes, that’s right. We support both cross-play and cross-progression, so you can play freely on any platform with shared progression.”

This is a huge win for gamers that play on multiple platforms. Having cross-progression between PC platforms and consoles is fantastic for players looking to take advantage of both. I'm one of those players!

The lack of cross-play and cross-progression has become increasingly noticeable in games like Fallout 76. Having played the PC version for about 30 hours, I had to completely restart when I switched over to Xbox.

• Back to the top ⤴

What are the system requirements for The First Descendant?

Best Answer: for PC, the system requirements are as follows:

As you can see, compared to other releases over the last couple of years, The First Descendant is relatively light in terms of system requirements. I'm now beginning to understand why it can run on previous-generation systems! I wonder if it's run on iOS.

• Back to the top ⤴

What is the frame rate for The First Descendant?

Best answer: This largely depends on the platform you're playing on. From video I've seen, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 are targeting a performance mode of 60 frames per second, with an optional 30 FPS fidelity mode. Xbox One and PlayStation 4, are both uncapped, running between 30 and 60 FPS depending on XB1/PS4 vs XBX/PS4 Pro.

There's a user on YouTube who's been testing the gameplay of The First Descendant on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One X, and Xbox One. As you can see from the gameplay videos, the performance of the Xbox Series X|S versions is terrific. It's the Xbox One X and Xbox One that suffer and find themselves hovering around 30 FPS in most instances.

The Xbox One X is able to achieve somewhere between 45 and 50 FPS in most circ*mstances. This allows for VRR enabled televisions running at 120Hz to compensate a bit for performance reasons. I was not able to find a comparable set of testing videos for the PS4 lineup.

• Back to the top ⤴

The First Descendant gameplay and trailers

Here is a collection of many currently released trailers for The First Descendant.

• Back to the top ⤴