The First Descendant Accused of Copying Destiny 2
The First Descendant accused of stealing art assets from Destiny 2.
The First Descendant was accused of stealing art assets from Bungie‘s massively popular online action MMO Destiny 2. Nexon Games’ take on the cooperative looter shooter genre recently released back on July 2 and quickly amassed a sizable player base in the days following its debut. However, The First Descendant also suffered from several major issues following its launch, such as a major bug with its premium currency and heated discussions regarding its allegedly predatory monetization structure.
Even before its release, the developers of The First Descendant were not shy about what influenced their vision for Nexon’s third-person looter shooter. Director Minseok Joo has specifically stated that The First Descendant looked to Warframe and Destiny for guidance, explaining how his team wanted to foster the same sense of community in players with future updates. Many fans can likely even feel both games’ influence on The First Descendant. Its mod and crafting systems, for instance, bear striking similarities to Warframe‘s progression mechanics. The First Descendant‘s emphasis on loot drops and intense boss fights has also drawn positive comparisons to Destiny 2‘s gameplay,
But while it’s expected that past games will go on to influence subsequent titles, a report from Forbes claimed The First Descendant‘s developers may have taken too much inspiration from other IPs. According to the article, players have noticed some of the icons for The First Descendant‘s modules and abilities bear an uncanny resemblance to Destiny 2‘s assets, only with just enough tweaks that they weren’t an exact one-to-one replica.
The First Descendant Receives Mixed Reviews
The similar icons have led to deeper dives into both games’ assets, with some players scrutinizing and finding notable similarities between Destiny 2’s armaments and some of the weapons from The First Descendant. Players were particularly skeptical of the design of the Another Dream sniper rifle, which does look like a fusion between Destiny 2‘s legendary Ikelos sniper rifle and exotic Sleeper Simulant linear fusion rifle. As with the icons, The First Descendant‘s model is not an unabashed copy, but there is enough of a resemblance that players were left wondering whether this was meant to be a tribute or a sign of something more nefarious behind the scenes.
Despite the hiccups from its launch, developers are hard at work and have even recently released a hotfix for The First Descendant‘s technical issues. However, with a genre as competitive as online action RPGs, there’s still no guarantee of future success. Only time will tell if The First Descendant can overcome its issues and carve a place for itself in the industry.
