Nexon is pausing Season 4 to rip apart The First Descendant — and that’s probably smart

Why Nexon is hitting reset on The First Descendant (and why players should care)

Nexon just admitted what a lot of players have been saying: piling out new seasons isn’t fixing The First Descendant’s core problems. Instead of a Season 4 rollout in early 2026, the team is pausing to reorganize the game loop and extend Season 3 through the first half of the year. That matters because cosmetic updates and new maps only paper over a shooter whose farming, weapon progression, and difficulty curve have left many players frustrated.

• Core overhaul, not another season: Nexon will focus on restructuring farming, weapons, and gameplay loops in early 2026.
• New systems incoming: Breach Tracking farming, Operation Command (choose what you farm), Onslaught wave mode (beta then full launch in May), and Transcendent-tier weapons.
• New content with intent: Dia, a requested Descendant, debuts in February; a Mega Boss Dungeon tied to Karel and more large-scale combat missions follow.
• Short-term patch: A December 4 update still adds new dungeon and boss content and rebalances Descendants.

Why this matters now

The First Descendant launched with headlines and a 260,000-player peak on Steam, but its lifetime score now sits at 64% – “Mixed.” That gap between launch hype and lasting retention tells you everything. Players complained about aggressive monetization, an overloaded progression system that feels almost gacha-like, and a grind that often leads to disappointment when key materials don’t drop. Simply shipping more content wasn’t solving those core player pain points.

Breaking down what Nexon actually plans to change

Creative director Min-Seok Joo (via community manager Jason Lee’s translation) summarized the pivot: “the first half of 2026 will focus on reorganizing The First Descendant’s core loop and strengthening its content… we’ve decided it would be better to invest more in the game’s completion through reorganization before moving on to the next stage.” In practical terms, that means staged updates across early 2026 rather than a full Season 4.

Key additions and changes announced:

• Breach Tracking farming (Episode 2): rotating mission types designed to reduce repetition and let players reliably farm gold and super-conductive cooling units.
• Onslaught mode (Episode 3, beta then May launch): four-wave PvE encounters with elite effects. It’s a logical counter to the “bullet sponge” critiques, but the beta is a good sign – Nexon wants player feedback before full launch.
• Operation Command: choose what you farm. Producer Beom-Jun Lee says the overhaul focuses on hard difficulty and above, prioritizing current players’ needs over beginner onboarding.
• Weapon system overhaul: ditching the current research/augmentation tedium for Transcendent-tier weapons meant to be earned through farming and give a distinct progression feel.
• New Descendant Dia: launching February 2026 with her own story; plus a Mega Boss Dungeon centered on Karel and more large-scale missions.

The gamble and the context

I tested The First Descendant around Summer Game Fest and, like fans of Warframe, I could see the bones of a rewarding looter-shooter. But the systems felt noisy: deep, yes, but not in a good way. When progression requires brittle RNG and the weapon upgrade loop reads like a spreadsheet, players vote with their time. Digging in to fix those systems – even if it means delaying flashy new chapters — is the kind of discipline more publishers need. Riot did something similar with League’s ecosystem fixes; when it works, it stabilizes the player base and sets the stage for healthier growth.

That said, Nexon also needs to prove it can follow through. Promising Transcendent weapons and an Operation Command menu is one thing; shipping satisfying drop rates, clear progression paths, and less opaque monetization is where the trust gets rebuilt.

What players should expect next

Expect a quieter early 2026 that’s focused on meaningful changes rather than a parade of new maps. There’s a December 4 update that brings an Ultimate Yujin variant, the Forbidden Sanctuary dungeon, a poison-based Abyss Colossus, Grim Reaper content, and Descendant rebalances — but the real test will be whether the Episode 2/3 changes actually make daily play more satisfying.

TL;DR

Nexon delaying Season 4 to overhaul The First Descendant’s farming, weapon progression, and gameplay loop is the right move on paper. Players want fewer gimmicks and clearer returns on their time and money — now we’ll see if Nexon delivers the execution, not just the intent.