Is The First Descendant pay to win?

The First Descendant just had its final technical test, giving players a glimpse of the battle pass and the shop. While opinions differ, some wonder whether this upcoming F2P looter-shooter will be another pay-to-win game.

Here’s what we think.

The First Descendant: Is it pay to win?

The First Descendant is kind of pay-to-win, but not really. It depends on what you consider pay to win. It also depends on what you consider winning in The First Descendant. 

The game is about collecting new Descendants (classes) and leveling them up while improving your gear. You can buy new Descendants directly using the premium currency (Caliber), but you can also farm for materials and build them yourself without many issues.

The battle pass, for example, has both a free and a premium version. The premium can give you some items and boosters, which could significantly decrease the grinding required, but none of these are required to progress through the game at a decent pace.

There are also plenty of cosmetics, some earnable in the game and others you can buy for real money.

Based on the final technical test, The First Descendant seems more like a pay-for-convenience kind of game, which I don’t necessarily consider pay-to-win, but I realize your opinion may differ from mine. 

What can you buy with real money in The First Descendant?

Here’s everything you can buy in The First Descendant:

• Costumes
• Makeup
• Color pallets (they have a gacha system behind it)
• Weapon Skins
• XP boosting items
• Descendants
• Time savers
• Premium Battle Pass

If you think looking your best means winning, then The First Descendant is definitely a pay-to-win event.

If you consider leveling your Descendants the fastest means winning, The First Descendant is pay to win. 

Otherwise, I dare say The First Descendant doesn’t seem like a pay-to-win game (yet). That said, the publisher, Nexon, is in charge of Maple Story, widely considered one of the best examples of a pay-to-win game. 

Regardless of your stance, we’ll have to wait for the official release and then have this discussion again.