Nexon has now replaced at least some of the icons in The First Descendant that were too-close-for-comfort to icons in Destiny 2, but it’s still not saying anything about how those icons ended up in the game in the first place.
A quick catchup: Earlier this month, players of The First Descendant noted that some of the game’s icons are very similar to those used in Destiny 2—way too many, and way too alike, to be coincidence. Some fans speculated the problem arose from Nexon’s unconfirmed use of a free icons repository, which appeared to be offering icons for commercial use that it didn’t actually have the rights to.
Several days later, Nexon acknowledged the issue, saying in a statement that “we have taken the concerns raised seriously and decided to make adjustments to ensure that the imagery that may appear similar clearly reflects the unique identity of our game.”
“May appear similar” is certainly one way to describe a situation where icons absolutely do appear to be virtually identical, but at least the issue was being addressed. And now it has been, to some extent, as part of the 1.0.3 hotfix released today, which among other things, “updated some icon images.”
“The First Descendant has been developed with deep affection and respect for various looter shooters, and we take feedback regarding other similar games very seriously,” an attached director’s comment explains. “Through this hotfix, we are trying to reflect the unique identity of ‘The First Descendant’. We will continue to improve the game for the fans of the genre.”
Ironically, that comment is very close to the statement Nexon offered up when it first committed to changing the icons, and it tells us nothing more than we knew then. Players will surely figure out which icons have been changed in short order, but how they got into the game in the first place—which is what I really want to know—remains a mystery. Nexon declined to comment beyond the patch notes.
Despite the kerfuffle over the swiped icons, The First Descendant is continuing to do quite well for itself. It’s still rocking a very “mixed” reception on Steam—only 54% of the user reviews are positive—but the concurrent player counts are continuing to hold at well over 100,000.
Aside from the icon replacement, the hotfix also makes a number of UI changes, gameplay adjustments, and optimizations and bug fixes; separately, a “mass Caliber purchase error” (Caliber being an in-game currency) has also been corrected. The full patch notes are up at tfd.nexon.com.
