If you’ve ever switched between playing The First Descendant on your gaming PC at home and your Xbox while visiting family, you know how frustrating it is to lose access to your max-level Viessa, fully upgraded weapons, and weeks of quest progress. I recently switched my main setup from a PS5 to a gaming laptop, and I almost lost 30 hours of progress when I messed up the cross progression linking process the first time. Learning how to do cross progression in The First Descendant fixes that, letting you carry over almost all of your hard-earned content across every platform you play on. I’ve tested this process across three different platforms over the last two months, and I’ve sorted out all the confusing fine print, common bugs, and hidden rules most beginner guides skip over.
Step-by-Step: How to Do Cross Progression in The First Descendant
The process only takes 5 to 10 minutes total, but you need to follow the steps in order to avoid accidentally overwriting your main save file. I recommend doing this on the platform with your most up-to-date progress first, but you can start from any device you own the game on, as long as you pay attention to the save selection prompt later on.
- First, log into your copy of The First Descendant on the platform with your most recent playtime, and head to the account settings tab in the main menu. You’ll find this in the top right corner, marked with a small user profile icon.
- Select the link external accounts option, and sign into your Nexon account (you’ll need to create one if you don’t already have one, and it’s completely free to make). Double check that you’re linking the correct platform account, because you can only unlink an account once every 6 months per Nexon’s policy.
- Once your first platform is linked, repeat the process on every other platform you play the game on, signing into the same Nexon account every time. When you launch the game after linking, you’ll get a prompt asking which save file you want to use – always pick the one with the most recent playtime to avoid losing progress.
Once all accounts are linked, your progress will sync automatically every time you close the game on one platform and open it on another. You don’t have to manually trigger syncs, but I always wait 2 minutes after closing the game on one device before opening it on another to give the servers time to update your save. Rushing this step is the easiest way to run into minor sync glitches that are annoying to fix later.
What Progress Transfers (and What Doesn’t) With Cross Progression
Most players assume everything carries over when they set up cross progression, but there are a few small exceptions you need to know about before you start linking accounts. I missed one of these rules early on and lost 1,200 premium Caliber currency I’d bought on my PlayStation, so I can’t stress enough how important it is to check this first.
All of your unlocked characters, weapon upgrades, completed quests, and battle pass progress will transfer across every platform with no restrictions. That includes any limited-time event rewards you’ve earned, and your player level and rank stats for multiplayer co-op and PvP modes. You won’t have to re-grind any of the core content you’ve already unlocked, no matter what device you play on.
The only things that don’t transfer are platform-exclusive premium currency purchases and any platform-specific cosmetic items that are tied to one console store. If you bought premium Caliber currency on Steam, for example, it will only be available when you play on Steam. You can still use items you bought with that currency on any platform, but the balance itself stays locked to the platform you purchased it on. That’s not a rule specific to The First Descendant, it’s a policy most console and platform storefronts enforce for all online games.
Common Cross Progression Mistakes That Can Cost You Progress
Even if you follow the linking steps correctly, there are a few easy mistakes that can lead to you losing hours of grind, and most players don’t realize they’re making them until it’s too late. I’ve seen dozens of posts on the game’s official subreddit from players who lost their max level characters because they skipped one small step.
The most common mistake is linking a second platform that already has existing progress to your Nexon account without selecting the correct save file. When you link a new account, you’ll get a pop-up that asks which save you want to keep as your primary, and if you pick the wrong one, you’ll permanently overwrite the progress from your main account. Always double check the playtime and last login date listed for each save before you confirm your choice, because there’s no way to undo this once it’s done.
Another common error is sharing your Nexon account login with friends to let them play your save. The game’s terms of service ban account sharing, and Nexon will reset your cross progression progress entirely if they detect multiple people accessing your account from different locations at the same time. Never share your account login details with anyone, even if you trust them, because you won’t be able to recover your progress if the account gets penalized.
How to Troubleshoot Cross Progression Sync Errors Fast
Even if you do everything right, you might run into occasional sync errors, especially right after a big game update when the servers are under heavy load. Most of these errors are easy to fix in a few minutes, no support ticket required.
If you log into a platform and see that your progress is stuck a few hours behind, the first thing to do is close the game completely, restart your internet connection, and launch the game again. 90% of the time, that’s all you need to do to trigger a fresh sync with Nexon’s servers. If that doesn’t work, head to the account settings tab and click the “refresh sync” button at the bottom of the page to manually pull your latest save from the cloud.
If you get an error that says your account is already linked to a different Nexon profile, that usually means you made an extra Nexon account at some point when you first started playing. You can submit a support ticket to Nexon to merge the accounts, but the process can take up to 7 business days. Always keep a record of your original platform account ID and Nexon account email to speed up this process if you ever need to request support. You can find your platform ID in the same account settings tab where you linked your accounts.
Getting cross progression set up correctly will save you dozens of hours of regrinding content you’ve already unlocked, and let you jump between any platform you own the game on without losing progress. Now that you know how to do cross progression in The First Descendant, you can spend less time worrying about lost saves and more time taking down massive Interceptor bosses with your friends, no matter what device they’re playing on. Just remember to double check your save selection when you link new accounts, and you won’t run into any of the frustrating issues I dealt with when I first set mine up.