If you’ve spent hours grinding Void Intercept battles, unlocking new playable characters, or testing out broken build combinations in the popular third-person looter shooter, you’ve probably wondered who made the first Descendant game at some point. The title blew up shortly after its full launch for its smooth crossplay support, flashy, impactful combat, and surprisingly generous free-to-play model that avoids the pay-to-win traps many other online games fall into. It’s easy to look at the polished final product and forget how much work went into building the first version of the game, and the team behind it has a surprisingly long history of making hit multiplayer titles. This guide breaks down everything you need to know about the studio, their core vision, and the challenges they overcame to bring the game to life.
Who Made the First Descendant Game? Meet the Core Development Studio
The first Descendant game was built by Nexon Games, a South Korean game development studio that operates as a subsidiary of the larger Nexon publishing group. Previously known as Nexon GT before a 2021 rebrand, the studio already had years of experience building cross-platform multiplayer games before taking on this project, including the popular kart racing title KartRider: Drift. The project was led by director Beomjun Lee, who spent seven years working on action-focused online titles before stepping into the lead role for this game.
I first heard whispers of the project back in 2021 when closed beta signups first went live, and I was initially surprised to see Nexon’s name attached, since I mostly associated the brand with classic MMORPGs like MapleStory from the early 2000s. The team made it clear from the start that they wanted to make a looter shooter that stood out from existing entries in the genre like Warframe and Destiny 2, with a bigger focus on accessible co-op and casual-friendly progression. The studio intentionally chose Unreal Engine 5 for the first build of the game, allowing them to build high-fidelity graphics and seamless crossplay functionality that works across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles from day one.
Development on the first prototype started in late 2019, and the team spent nearly three years testing and refining the core gameplay loop before opening the first closed beta to global players in 2022. The core development team started with just 40 people, and grew to over 120 by the time the game launched globally in 2023.
Key Inspirations That Shaped the First Descendant Game Build
The development team drew from a wide range of sources when building the first version of the game, combining design elements from both western looter shooters and Korean online games to create a unique experience. They noticed a gap in the market for a free-to-play looter shooter that didn’t require dozens of hours of play every week to keep up with endgame content, and that welcomed casual players who only had a few hours a week to play with friends.
Three core inspirations guided nearly every design choice for the first build:
- Action combat from popular third-person shooters, with a focus on fast, fluid movement and unique character-specific abilities that feel impactful even for players who are new to the looter shooter genre
- Looter progression systems that let players customize every part of their build, from weapon mods to Descendant skill upgrades, without locking powerful gear behind premium purchases or endless grind walls
- Shared world co-op design that lets players team up with friends or match with random players for endgame raids, without requiring a consistent dedicated group to progress through the hardest content
One of the team's biggest priorities for the first build was eliminating paywalls for core gameplay content, which is why all playable Descendants and endgame missions are unlockable with free in-game currency, no premium purchase required. The team tested over 12 different ability sets for the first 5 playable Descendants during closed beta, adjusting cooldowns and damage values based on player feedback to make sure each character felt unique and viable for endgame content. They also added the grappling hook mechanic early in development, because they wanted traversal to feel fun even when players were just running around open world zones collecting resources between missions.
Challenges the Team Faced Launching the First Descendant Game
Building a cross-platform looter shooter from scratch came with a lot of unexpected hurdles for the development team, and they had to scrap multiple early builds of the game before landing on a version that felt polished enough to release to players. The biggest challenge by far was getting crossplay functionality working smoothly across all platforms, so players on high-end PCs and older console generations could team up for raids without frame rate drops or lag spikes that would ruin the experience.
Balancing the progression grind was another major pain point. The team didn’t want to make progression too fast, because that would leave players with nothing to work toward after a week of play, but they also didn’t want to make it so slow that casual players felt like they could never keep up with their more dedicated friends. Closed beta testers repeatedly complained that early boss fights had too much health and too few reward drops, so the team reworked all endgame loot tables 3 months before launch to make the grind feel more rewarding without being frustrating.
The team also had to work hard to overcome player skepticism about Nexon’s reputation for pay-to-win mechanics in some of their older titles. A lot of players wrote off the game entirely when it was first announced, assuming it would lock powerful characters or gear behind expensive premium purchases. The dev team addressed that concern head-on by releasing a full, transparent monetization breakdown months before launch, confirming that all premium purchases would be cosmetic only, including skins, emotes, and quality of life items like extra storage slots that don’t impact gameplay performance. I was part of that second closed beta, and the weekly live Q&As the devs hosted to answer player questions felt really rare for a big studio project, and it won over a lot of skeptical players including me.
How the Original Development Vision Holds Up in Today's Game
The game has changed a lot since the first build launched, with over 20 playable Descendants, new open world zones, and fresh endgame raids added every 3 months, but the core vision the original team laid out back in 2019 is still very much intact. The core gameplay loop of grinding for better gear, teaming up with friends for raids, and unlocking new characters is exactly the same as it was in the first closed beta, and the team still sticks to their promise of no pay-to-win mechanics.
As of 2024, the game has over 15 million registered players globally, which is a testament to how well the original development vision resonated with players around the world. The team still hosts monthly community Q&As, where they share previews of upcoming content and address player feedback directly, and they’ve adjusted plenty of features over the years based on what the community asks for, including adding cross-save support in 2024, one of the most requested features since launch.
The original dev team still leads most of the game's updates, so long-time players don't have to worry about sudden shifts in design philosophy that would ruin the experience they fell in love with. Even with all the new content added over the years, you can still see all the small, deliberate choices the original team made to make the game feel accessible and fun for all types of players, from casual players who log in for a few hours a week to dedicated grinders who spend hours perfecting endgame builds.
Now you know who made the first Descendant game, and all the work that went into turning a small studio vision into one of the most popular free-to-play looter shooters on the market. It’s easy to take the game’s smooth crossplay, fair monetization, and fun combat for granted when you’re in the middle of a tense Void Intercept run, but all those features came from years of testing, iteration, and a team that prioritized player experience over quick profits. Next time you take down a tough boss with your friends, take a second to appreciate the team at Nexon Games that spent years building that experience for you.