NEXON’s Beomjun Lee Discusses Live Service Challenges at GDC 2025, Teases The First Descendant Season 3

Beomjun Lee, Executive Producer of The First Descendant, presented at GDC 2025 in San Francisco on today, sharing insights on overcoming challenges in live-service game development. His session, “Persevering Through a 57 Metacritic as a Live Service Game,” addresses the looter shooter’s rocky launch and strategies for improvement, alongside a preview of the Season 3: Breakthrough update.

Key Challenges & Solutions

• Player Feedback Integration: Despite mixed reviews at launch (57 Metacritic score), the team prioritized addressing character balance, combat systems, and content gaps.
• Three Core Focus Areas:
  • Rapid adaptation to player feedback.
  • Consistent high-quality content updates.
  • Improved stability and performance.
• Enhanced Communication:
  • Launched AMA sessions on Discord for real-time Q&A.
  • Introduced monthly live broadcasts with community Q&A.

Results of Player-Centric Approach

• Season 2 (December 2024): Daily active users increased by 92.4%, with a 20% rise in returning players compared to Season 1.
• Structural Changes:
  • Extended update cycles from 3 to 4 months for deeper content refinement.
  • Development team expanded by 50% post-launch.
  • Discontinued support for PS4/Xbox One to focus on current-gen platforms.

Season 3: Breakthrough (July 2025)

• New Open World: Explore Axion, a vast field with unique monsters and mechanics.
• Mounts: Traverse environments faster.
• Large-Scale Boss Battles: Cooperative fights against colossal enemies.
• Collaborations & Content: Crossovers with major IPs, community-requested weapons, and a player lounge for showcasing collectibles.

Lee’s GDC talk highlights The First Descendant’s journey from a criticized launch to a revitalized live-service title, driven by player feedback and systemic changes. While these changes have stabilized the game’s playerbase, the the game is far from its initial launch numbers which peaked at 264,860 concurrent users.

The upcoming Season 3 aims to solidify its place in the looter-shooter genre with expanded content and quality-of-life enhancements.