The First Descendant devs quickly change matchmaking rules after early backlash

The First Descendant players have had their matchmaking prayers answered today after Nexon announced it will be implementing player pairing changes for Hard Mode activities, including Infiltration Operations and Void Intercepts.

Nexon confirmed public matchmaking is on its way for endgame activities in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on July 9, as well as a short statement in The First Descendant‘s Discord server. It comes after days of complaints from speedy players who had reached the tough but rewarding Dungeons after the main story but realized there was no matchmaking system, which forced them to link up with other players through world chat or third-party apps.

The Nexon developers are also planning further optimization updates and have said they are hearing complaints from the community. “We know that optimization issues are frequently discussed. We’re thoroughly investigating the problem and also continuously preparing patches,” a Nexon developer wrote. No timeframe has been given just yet for the updates, but many are just happy to know their voices are being heard.

“It’s encouraging to see [the] devs are listening,” one player said on Reddit following the announcement, while others believe this will increase the game’s longevity as many who had been enjoying the rush through The First Descendant hit a roadblock when it came to Hard Mode endgame activities without a simple matchmaking system in place.

Many players were ready to throw in the towel after hearing they’d need to personally organize a party to take on The First Descendant‘s toughest activities. Some players compared TFD‘s lack of a matchmaking system to their experiences in Destiny 2 and Warframe—both of which have now been updated with features like Bungie’s Fireteam Finder.

The First Descendant saw a peak of 264,860 players on PC last weekend, according to stats site SteamDB, and while midweek numbers have dropped, the game is beginning to settle with a solid playerbase. Given the title was only released two weeks ago, getting public matchmaking in before the general player base reaches endgame activities like Hard Mode Intercepts or Dungeons will ensure players don’t give up out of frustration.