GamesThird Person ShooterThe First DescendantThe First Descendant will change its in-game icons following accusations that it swiped them from Destiny 2When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesThird Person ShooterThe First DescendantThe First Descendant will change its in-game icons following accusations that it swiped them from Destiny 2When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Nexon)
Several days after players noticed that numerous icons in The First Descendant arevery similar to ones found in Destiny 2—and in some cases, virtually identical—Nexon says it will make changes to ensure the imagery “clearly reflects the unique identity of our game.”
The similarities came to light earlier this month, and asForbesnoted at the time, there are far too many (and in some cases, they’re far too alike) to be a coincidence.
‘The First Descendant’ Is Using Barely-Changed ‘Destiny 2’ Icons via @forbes https://t.co/rGdbfKNfJX pic.twitter.com/gGKfoTkLk9July 7, 2024
‘The First Descendant’ Is Using Barely-Changed ‘Destiny 2’ Icons via @forbes https://t.co/rGdbfKNfJX pic.twitter.com/gGKfoTkLk9July 7, 2024
One theory, floated shortly after the resemblances were discovered, was that Bungie and Nexon sourced their in-game icons from the same place, but that didn’t seem to hold water: Why would a major studio like Bungie make use of third-party icon sets?
The situation got even stranger when the presumed source of the icons, a “free open source icons and illustrations” repository called Iconduck, was found to be offering icons from Destiny and numerous other games for use in both personal and commercial projects. The site contains204 Destiny icons, for instance, and specifically states that “these icons and illustrations can be used for commercial purposes”—like in a videogame, for instance.
Bungie’sterms of serviceallows the use of its data and content for non-commercial projects like Chapman’s website, but explicitly forbids using it to make money: “You don’t own our stuff, so you can’t sell it, use it to sell other things, or give other people permission to use it.”
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After several days of silence, Nexon has now acknowledged the similarities and says the icons will be changed.
“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. We will continue to improve the game for fans of the looter shooter genre.”
Nexon did not say when the icons will be changed, nor did it comment on how this happened in the first place. My best guess for the moment is that Iconduck is offering Destiny icons for free commercial use without authorization, and Nexon decided to take advantage without properly vetting them. Howthathappened is a whole other question—Nexon is a big outfit in its own right, presumably with the resources and experience necessary to ensure that “free stuff” is actually free—but at the very least, as we noted when all this first blew up, it is a reminder that not everything on the internet is as it appears to be.
Despite these foibles, which come on top of very mixed user reviews onSteamand our own assessment that it’sthe Destiny we have at home, The First Descendant has been very popular so far, with concurrent player counts on Steamconsistently over 100,000since its launch on July 2.
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