THE FINALS

It’s the first week back in 2026 and we’ve packed this week’s update with a long list of bug-fixes, some balance changes, and performance improvements all detailed below. Check it out, keep warm, and…

SEE YOU IN THE ARENA!


Snowball Blitz | Last Chance

This is the last week of Snowball Blitz, so make a pile of snowballs and turn in those contracts!


Store Update | P1XEL REIGN CREW

This week, the crowd is about to go absolutely wild!

C-Pop group P1XEL REIGN have entered the Arena and they’re here to take the spotlight from everyone! Do you have what it takes to face them?


Balance Changes

Gadgets

Breach Drill

• 
  Increased the length of the drill bit from 83cm to 108cm, to allow it to more effectively drill through deep walls
  
  Dev Note: We noticed some locations in the world had thick enough walls that they would prevent the Breach Drill’s flash from impacting players on the other side. This change should address that
  

Game Modes

Cashout/Ranked Tournaments

• 
  Updated the logic for deciding where Cashout Stations should spawn, to create more consistent distances between Cashout Stations and Vaults
  
  Dev Note: This is a small iteration that hopefully makes round pacing more consistent. One of our goals over the next season or two is to revisit various spawn systems, from objective spawns to team/coin spawns.
  

Weapons

CB-01 Repeater

• 
  Increased aim down sights zoom time from 0.2s to 0.24s, making it slightly slower to aim down sights
  
  
• 
  Increased bullet dispersion when crouched, moving while crouched, and when standing still, making the weapon slightly less accurate
  
  Dev Note: The CB-01 has been over performing for a while now, compared to all other Medium weapons, and it sits as the one of the bigger outlier weapons in the game at present. Much of its power comes from it remaining effective at closer ranges when the weapon is intended to specialize at longer ranges. These changes should reduce its close range effectiveness without damaging its performance at range, but this is a weapon we’ll continue to monitor closely.
  

FAMAS

• 
  Adjusted the recoil pattern, making the weapon jump more during the initial burst and adding slightly more recoil overall
  
  
• 
  Increased bullet dispersion slightly, across all stances
  
  
• 
  Decreased the delay before recoil recovery begins from 0.7s to 0.24s, making the weapon much easier to control if the player fires in bursts
  
  
• 
  Decreased recoil recovery speed from 0.9 to 0.8
  
  Dev Note: We feel the FAMAS has become a little too effective at both long and close range, meaning it has very few drawbacks compared to some other Medium weapons and often fills the role that we intended for the AKM and FCAR. These changes nudge it towards being a medium-to-long ranged weapon, and make it slightly less effective up close.
  

Recurve Bow

• 
  Increased rate of fire from 98 RPM to 103 RPM
  
  
• 
  Decreased minimum draw time from 0.15s to 0.08s, making it faster to perform quick shots
  
  Dev Note: The Bow has dropped off in usage and various other metrics over time making it one of the weaker and least popular Light weapons. These changes are aimed at bumping up its power to give it greater viability.
  

V9S

• 
  Decreased the damage fall-off end range from 25m to 20m
  
  Dev Note: We mentioned in Update 9.1 that our 9.0 buffs to the V9S had pushed it into a dominant position, especially when it came to damage output per round. Despite some adjustments in 9.1 to try and address that, the V9S still remains a significant outlier in terms of performance, largely due to its increased value in medium ranged fights since S9 launched. This change should firmly push it back towards being a more closed ranged weapon, rather than having it cannibalize the role of other Light weapons.
  

Content and Bug Fixes

Animation

• 
  Fixed a visual issue where one of the .50 Akimbo pistols could appear to float when affected by a flashbang or when burning
  
  
• 
  Fixed incorrect thigh deformation on characters during movement
  
  
• 
  Adjusted the animation when a Contestant using .50 Akimbo pistols is pulled by a Winch Claw
  
  
• 
  Fixed meshes appearing blurry during inspect animations
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where, in some BFR animations, the Weapon Charm could appear on screen before the Weapon
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where being glitched while aiming with the H+ Infuser could cause melee weapons (such as the Dagger) to be held in an ADS pose until swapped
  
  
• 
  Fixed animation distortions when entering Low Gravity while using Akimbo pistols and Mesh Shield
  
  
• 
  Fixed a firing animation issue for .50 Akimbo pistols after using Mesh Shield
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where certain Weapon action animations would not play after switching items mid-action and switching back
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the quick melee animation sometimes did not play when used immediately after the Spear spin attack or while using Mesh Shield
  
  
• 
  Fixed throwing animations not playing after certain actions
  

Audio

• 
  Fixed an issue where sounds could be muted when leaving paused private lobbies
  
  
• 
  Fixed incorrect destruction sounds on various environmental objects
  
  
• 
  Included the announcer as part of the commentary volume slider which can be adjusted in Settings
  
  
• 
  Updated and polished deploy sounds for many Weapons and Gadgets to improve clarity and consistency
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the commentator voice-over at the end of a round in Cashout could be cut off
  
  
• 
  Added a sound for inserting a second Cashbox into a Cashout Station
  
  
• 
  Adjusted ÖRF grenade voice lines to prevent them from cutting off. Inspect lines now stop when you throw, but continue when preparing to throw
  

Contract

• 
  Fixed an issue where grenade damage was not recognized for related sponsor Contracts
  

Cosmetic

• 
  Fixed finger clipping with the QuickSpark sight when inspecting the Revolver with the Plundersteel skin
  
  
• 
  Fixed several boots clipping with pants
  
  
• 
  Improved hoodie compatibility for the Military Mechanic Hat, fixed hood clipping on Engineer’s Crown, and made Facewear correctly replace the Crisp Ops Helmet to prevent overlap
  
  
• 
  Improved the reliability of outfit icons when creating a new outfit in the customization menu
  
  
• 
  Improved cloth collision on Heavy Outfits to better fit the Moonbeam Dress top and to reduce visual clipping
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where newly purchased customization items were not equipped when selecting Equip from the store highlight splash screen
  
  
• 
  Fixed a visual issue where the CL-40’s bullet glow could persist after using the Choppy Check inspect and starting an emote
  
  
• 
  Reduced clipping on The Beakon and The Beakend Masks from the Chirurgeon and Apothecarion sets
  
  
• 
  Adjusted the Surgeon’s Cowl and Best Practice Cowl fit around the shoulders
  
  
• 
  Wrist and watch cosmetics now display correctly with the Crosswind Cloak
  
  
• 
  Fixed an OSPUZE Sponsor Emote, Mizdown, where the can prop could appear upside down
  
  
• 
  Improved compatibility with Long Coats for the Brush of Greatness fox tail
  
  
• 
  Fixed naked characters appearing in team intros
  
  
• 
  Adjusted the Core Slinger Emote’s muzzle flash on the Player Card to prevent overly bright flashes
  
  
• 
  Adjusted the Sledgehammer’s on-screen positioning when customizing or inspecting it in the menus
  
  
• 
  Magazines now visually reflect remaining ammo and empty-mag visuals have been added
  
  
• 
  Fixed a visual issue where the Anti-Gravity Cube could sometimes show an incorrect skin when deployed
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the Concrete Canopy skin would cause the XP-54 to render incorrectly
  

Gameplay

• 
  Fixed some instances of the “can’t shoot” bug
  
  
• 
  Environmental kills now correctly display the granted score
  
  
• 
  Added a hit marker when successfully glitching a Gateway
  
  
• 
  Added a critical hit marker for Flashbang. The hitmarker now indicates flash effectiveness, showing yellow for a very successful hit
  

Gamemodes

Point break

• 
  Party members now spawn together more often at the start of Point Break matches
  
  
• 
  Lockbolt can no longer attach to the Grand Vaults
  
  Dev Note: Grand Vault manipulation has become a fairly negative experience for many players in Point Break mode since the mode launched and it’s something we’re keen to reduce to ensure more enjoyable matches. This change is the first of a series of changes we’re likely to make over the next few weeks to make manipulation of Grand Vaults much more limited.
  

Bernal

• 
  Slightly adjusted a Phase 2 Attacker spawn on Bernal to improve flow
  

Monaco

Phase 1:

• 
  Moved objectives B and C one house further away from the Cathedral
  
  
• 
  Moved attacker spawns back a little to maintain similar travel distances to the objectives
  
  
• 
  Tweaked Ziplines and planks for smoother routes between the adjusted objective locations
  
  
• 
  Replaced a Zipline for a Jump Pad at one of the Attacker spawns for more consistent access to the rooftops
  Dev note: Objective B could be quite difficult and sometimes frustrating to capture, due to the defenders having a strong natural high ground advantage from the Cathedral next to it. We hope that these changes still make the Cathedral a fun and meaningful position for long-range Defenders, but less oppressive when attacking. Objective C was moved to maintain a nice flow between it and the new objective B location, and to give it more layers of destruction to better sustain prolonged large-scale battles when it’s the last objective remaining.
  

Phase 2:

• 
  Moved objective E in the Cathedral slightly away from the wall to make movement around it more comfortable
  
  
• 
  Adjusted the Attacker border so it sits a bit further away from the shed in the Forest where Objective G of Phase 3 is located
  
  
• 
  Added extra Ziplines to increase rooftop access
  

Phase 3:

• 
  Added extra Ziplines to increase rooftop access
  

SYS Horizon

Phase 1:

• 
  Slightly moved Objective B to avoid a small gap between it and the wall, through which you could unexpectedly get shot
  

Phase 3:

• 
  Adjusted a Defender spawn to improve flow and make a Zipline easier to spot and use
  

Power Shift

• 
  Fixed an unintended loop in the Power Shift platform path on Kyoto that caused rapid rotation
  
  Dev note: Because of the above fix Kyoto will now return to the map pool for Power Shift!
  

Maps

Kyoto

• 
  Fixed a hillside spawn that could cause players to clip into terrain
  
  
• 
  Adjusted Kyoto’s map border to better follow the hillside terrain and restored a missing wall end at the stables
  
  
• 
  Removed the bamboo cluster between Cliffside and the Temples to improve readability
  

Bernal

• 
  Fixed an issue where the ISEUL‑T Hotel could collapse erratically after partial destruction
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where parts of a building could float after nearby structures were destroyed in the residential area
  

Seoul

• 
  Fixed an issue where the bridge to the Data Center could clip into nearby structures in the Hospital area
  

Fangwai City

• 
  Fixed a destruction weak spot in the Traditional area that could cause structures to collapse too easily
  
  
• 
  Fixed a gap in the ground that could appear after destroying a residential building
  
  
• 
  Improved the visibility of railings and monitors at lower quality settings in the Terminal Area
  
  
• 
  Resolved an issues that caused objects to disappear when moving behind certain cliff rocks
  

Monaco

• 
  Added a ladder on the flat-roof building in the Hotels area to improve rooftop traversal across all modes and variants
  
  
• 
  Adjusted the cover placement in some of the Hotels and Shopping District houses to make them less cluttered
  

Practice Range

• 
  Fixed an issue in the Combat Arena where Gadgets and Specializations could be placed out of bounds under the entryway
  

Performance

• 
  Improved animation performance in 8v8 matches
  
  
• 
  Improved Instant Replay timing
  
  
• 
  Disabled dynamic shadows in reflections to improve performance
  
  
• 
  Optimized lighting data to improve performance across all platforms
  
  
• 
  Improved performance by loading Player Card Backgrounds asynchronously to reduce hitches during previews
  
  
• 
  Optimized character cloth simulation during animation updates to reduce CPU cost and improve frame performance
  
  
• 
  Optimized destruction updates to reduce stutters during large-scale breakage, improving responsiveness in heavy destruction moments
  
  
• 
  Optimized performance by disabling ray tracing on VFX static meshes
  
  
• 
  Improved ray-traced performance on Kyoto by reducing triangle counts on common environment meshes
  
  
• 
  We’ve made a series of ray tracing optimizations across several maps to improve performance and visual consistency
  
  
• 
  Optimized collision for Frag, Smoke, Sonar, Goo, Gas, Incendiary, EMP, and Flashbang grenades to improve performance and interaction accuracy
  
  
• 
  Optimized replay loading during checkpoints, reducing startup time
  
  
• 
  Improved performance and reduced hitching on Xbox
  
  
• 
  Improved performance by optimizing animations, especially on lower-spec PCs
  
  
• 
  Refined collision for Dome Shield, EMP Trap, Gravity Vortex, Gateway, Explosive Mine, Gas Mine, and Incendiary Mine to improve performance and interactions
  
  
• 
  Improved network stability by fixing an issue that could cause unexpected lag spikes and rubberbanding
  
  
• 
  Fixed performance issues caused by NVIDIA Shader Cache being full
  

Social

• 
  Party invites across platforms now show an error when crossplay is disabled
  

Spectator

• 
  Fixed an issue where Spectators in Private Matches could not see the health bars of Contestants while invisible due to the Vanishing Bomb or Cloaking Device
  

UI

• 
  Added the Match Recap to Power Shift
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the season introduction screen could repeatedly reappear when returning from sub-menus after dismissing it
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where Practice Range dummies displayed an incorrect specialization icon
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where Attackers who backfilled into an ongoing Point Break match could see "Hold to Disarm" instead of "Hold to Arm" when arming the Grand Vault
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where a new marker could appear on the Career screen despite no new items being available
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in an Instant Replay if revived right as it started
  
  
• 
  All icons now display a direction marker when highlighted
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where tutorial hints in World Tour could not be skipped with a controller and might instead open the Rewards screen
  
  
• 
  Gameplay UI elements now respect slow motion and pause
  
  
• 
  Fixed interaction prompts appearing during the Spear’s spin attack when actions cannot be performed
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the schedule button on the World Tour map screen was not clickable
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where input progress would not display during hold interactions
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the left navigation arrow in the Store’s Legacy Battle Passes were hard to select
  
  
• 
  Improved controller navigation in the Game Mode Rules screen: you can now scroll through the Arenas & Variants tab with a gamepad and the map list correctly includes Fangwai City where applicable
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the tournament screen could be skipped in Ranked matches
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where team wipe notifications could incorrectly state that a team eliminated themselves
  
  
• 
  Fixed an unintended camera zoom-out when returning to the menu after previewing a reward in the Contracts screen
  
  
• 
  Fixed some concurrent game show events missing icons
  
  
• 
  Added click and hover sounds to World Tour progression and reward buttons in the menu
  
  
• 
  You can now back out of the "Sign with Sponsor" screen by pressing Esc
  
  
• 
  Added the Point Break leaderboard to the Career menu
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where newly created outfits could display a missing icon
  
  
• 
  Progression animations in menus now play in parallel for a snappier feel
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where background audio could continue after leaving mid-animation
  
  
• 
  Fixed a brief stretch of the loading screen background before entering a match
  
  
• 
  Added primary and secondary shortcuts to the World Tour calendar for the current week, allowing quick access to start the mode or view contracts
  
  
• 
  Improved World Tour calendar navigation: left/right buttons move between stops, and map stops are now clickable
  
  
• 
  Fixed incorrect progress indicators when objectives are armed in Point Break
  
  
• 
  Added an animation to the Attacker ticket view in Point Break to make changes easier to spot
  
  
• 
  Added a larder header to the Point Break rule information on the loading screen for improved visibility
  

VFX

• 
  Fixed overexposed Meteor Shower visuals at night
  
  
• 
  Improved victory line-up lighting on Monaco at night to address overly bright, washed-out visuals
  
  
• 
  Fixed missing impact decals on ice in Kyoto (winter condition) for Weapons and Gadgets
  

Weapons

Sword

• 
  Added a small timing buffer to charged lunges, preventing cases where damage would trigger but the lunge wouldn’t when released just before landing
  

Continue reading...

 

HAPPY 2026!

It’s a new year in the Arena and we’ve got a lot in store for you, Contestants!

But just a little bit in the store for you today!

Hope you celebrated at midnight and that all your resolutions stick!

Enjoy one more week of Snowball Blitz and see you next week for a slightly larger update!

Until then, god fortsättning!


RUBY REWARDS S9

The climb to the top is now on!

Ruby rewards are prestigious items granted only to the best of the best: the top 500 players. Unlike other ranked rewards however, you will have to fight to keep your spot in the ranking, as only the podium on the final day of the season will be given the precious bragging rights. You don’t just reach Ruby, you earn it.

Do your best and show the Sponsors you have what it takes to make it to the top!

Rewards for S9 will be as follows: Ruby player card background, Ruby emblem, Ruby badge, Ruby charm, Ruby sticker, and most importantly, a Ruby coin. Exchange the Ruby coin for a ruby skin of the weapon of your choice!

As always you can check the top contestants in-game and over on our website:

https://id.embark.games/the-finals/leaderboards/s9


STORE UPDATE | WINTER VICIOUS

The holidays may be over, but it’s still snowy in the Arena! Keep the spirit of the holidays all year round and stay cozy while you rack up the eliminations!

Enjoy one more week of Snowball Blitz and see you next week for a slightly larger update!

Until then, as we say in Sweden, god fortsättning!

Continue reading...

 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, CONTESTANTS!

Today’s update comes with a new LTM, a store that gets you decked out for the coming New Year!

We’re sending the warmest wishes from our homes and our headquarters…

For a very merry holiday season…

from Embark…with love.!

NEW LIMITED TIME MODE | SNOWBALL BLITZ

It’s time to deck the halls and wreck the lobby!
It’s Christmas Day and Monaco is snowed in. This calls for a snowball fight!

Snowball Blitz is back for another season, because nothing says holiday spirit like a face full of tightly-packed snow.

Put on your warmest outfit and join the 5v5 snow brawl! Just like TDM, the first team to hit 30K takes the win, so it’s time to put your opponents on ice. Get ready for heated battle and very cold hands.

Everyone loads in armed with snowballs.

Contracts are live, rewards are waiting, and Snowball Blitz sticks around for two weeks starting today.

Season’s beatings, Contestants!


STORE UPDATE | COUNTDOWN CREW

It’s too early to start the countdown for midnight, but not too early to pick out your party attire. Head over to the shop to pick up some gear that will help you start the New Year off right!

Continue reading...

 

Holly Jolly Hotfix

Before the holidays, we’ve managed to put in a hotfix to repair a few pressing issues introduced in Update 9.1.


We’re reverting the Barricade back to its pre-Update 9.0 functionality. The current state, which wasn’t intended to be introduced, is causing too many performance issues to stay in while we work on a solution. We are actively working on a better solution that will allow for easier placement (without making Barricade airplanes or throwing entire buildings across the Arena)


We’ve also fixed an issue that would display your Contestant distorted and without clothing while looking at new bundles. That was scary.


The “Deal 1000 damage to opponents with grenades” Contract has been removed, as it was not working.


We’ve removed Kyoto from Power Shift while we continue to work on fixing a snag in the track. It was supposed to be removed in Update 9.0.


Finally, we’ve replaced the Holly Jolly Nama Tama with the 2025 variant! The 2024 version was in the store unintentionally.

Continue reading...

 

LET’S GET HOLLY JOLLY!

We’re decking the halls, so expect some holiday cheer sprinkled throughout the Arena!

This week, we’re bringing a fresh new store to help you settle into the Christmas mood, alongside a wide range of bug-fixes, some exploit fixes, and performance improvements.

We’re also aware of a series of issues with the Barricade, involving everything from players phasing through walls - to entire buildings flying away to space. We don’t currently have a fix, but we are actively working on a solution.


STORE UPDATE | GIFT RIPPER SET

It’s getting chilly in the Arena!
No worries, we’ve got you covered, literally. Get warm in style with the Gift Ripper set, and let your opponents know this year, they’re only getting coal in their vault. Plenty more is awaiting you, so check it out!

TWITCH DROPS | Season of Support!

The season of gifting is upon us and what better way to share the love than to support your favorite THE FINALS content creators? Starting today until the 8th of January you’ll be able to unlock the Charmalure Set (3 weapon skins) with 3 twitch Sub, and the Bass Unit 86 helmet with 5 total subs!

We’ve also extended the duration of the Calvin the Cube drops, so you have a chance to unlock those all the way into the new year as well - who doesn’t love Calvin!?


BREACH THE CASHOUT STATION | ARC Raiders Contract

ARC Raiders is out now on PC and console, and we’re celebrating in THE FINALS.
Play 3 matches in THE FINALS to unlock a special ARC Raiders outfit.

Just complete the contract, launch ARC Raiders, and make sure your Embark ID is connected.
You’ll earn XP in THE FINALS along the way - see you in The Arena, and Topside, Contestants!


Balance Changes

Weapons

V9S

• 
  Decreased damage from 40 to 38
  

Dev Note: In the 9.0 update we buffed the effective range of the V9S to give it more viability, in an effort to increase how desirable it is to use. We can tell from early feedback and data that this range increase, combined with damage buffs, has been enough to quickly push it into a dominant position. This change will offset that. We’ll continue to monitor this closely over the next few weeks


Content and Bug Fixes

Cosmetics

• 
  Reduced clipping on the Baihu Pathfinder Outfits when worn with long jackets
  
  
• 
  Fixed a visible gap in the Muzzle Wyrm Flamethrower VFX
  

Gadgets

• 
  Fixed an issue that allowed the APS Turret, Jump Pad and Guardian Turret to be deployed inside walls
  

Game Modes

Point Break

• 
  Changed the Grand Vault behavior so the objective can no longer be pushed outside the play area, adding a fallback to keep it within the border
  
  
• 
  Changed objective border behavior after phase changes: Attacker borders now deactivate when a phase ends, and Defender borders no longer block players unintentionally
  

Performance

• 
  Potentially reduced some in-match stuttering by fixing an issue where shaders from the user cache were not precompiled
  
  
• 
  Reduced some of the occasional freezes sometimes happening during gameplay
  
  
• 
  Improved performance stability by preventing eviction of essential shaders used for UI, lighting effects, and post‑processing, reducing the risk of missed visuals and hitches
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where Instant Replays were delayed
  
  
• 
  Improved general performance in the Practice Range
  
  
• 
  Improved performance in Powershift and map conditions with moving platforms
  

Social

• 
  Fixed an issue where the UI would incorrectly display Steam names instead of the Embark Display Names
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where backfilled players could inherit the wrong Display Name
  

Stability

• 
  Fixed several PS4 memory crashes
  
  
• 
  Updated the recommended AMD graphics driver to version 25.12.1, resolving a crash present in the two previous AMD releases
  

UI

• 
  Fixed an issue where the Multi-Device tab no longer previewed your equipped skin and charm after switching to another tab and back
  
  
• 
  Added the missing Double Jeopardy modifier to the Private Match descriptions for Cashout and Ranked Cashout
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where spectating party members in Point Break could display incorrect HUD elements
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where World Tour points gained were not shown in the end-of-round results
  
  
• 
  The Sponsor progression screen now shows proper progression of fans and rewards
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where Premium Battle Pass levels did not appear immediately after purchase
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the Ultimate Battle Pass preview screen showed an incorrect number of instant rewards
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where purchasing the Premium or Ultimate Battle Pass would not lead to the proper in-game screen
  
  
• 
  Updated Ranked and World Tour league reward images and text
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the Season 6 Legacy Battle Pass could not be opened or purchased
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the Ultimate Battle Pass could appear purchasable multiple times
  

Continue reading...

 

WELCOME TO SEASON 9 | DRAGON RISING

Dragon Rising draws from the depth and richness of Chinese culture with a blend of historic symbols, architectural styles, and modern city energy. There’s a new mode, a new Arena, and plenty more to uncover, so let’s take a look at Dragon Rising and dive into a fresh season of the World’s Greatest Gameshow.


To experience the full visual patch notes please click this link.

New Map | Fangwai City

Fangwai City is built for spectacle, with elevated walkways, dense apartment blocks, riverfront views, serene gardens and towering structures all blended together for the ultimate variety. This latest addition to the Arena is built from the ground up with smooth destruction, combining everything we have learned from the past two years, to create a battleground that puts Dynamism on the center stage!

Distinct zones with strong individual personalities that draw from multiple real world locations in China, such as Hong Kong and Shanghai, create a playground of variety. Explore the vertical routes, the winding pathways, but don’t forget to look up at the electric backdrop of a city that never sleeps.

This megacity is grand, it’s loud, it’s tuned to keep the action flowing, and it’s coming for the crown. Step into your new favorite map!

New Mode | Point Break

Take everything you know about Cashout, turn it up to 11, and add four more players!

Point Break delivers a rolling battle where the fight is always in motion, the stakes rise with every phase, and every decision carries weight. It’s fast, it’s messy, and it brings a new rhythm to THE FINALS.

As you load into Point Break you find yourself as one of eight Attackers or Defenders, each side with a clear goal. Attackers need to gain control of, and destroy, nine Grand Vaults before running out of respawn tokens while Defenders aim to do the opposite. Deplete the Attackers coins and victory is yours, but be vigilant as they gain more coins for each phase they complete.

Go play!

New Progression | World Tour 2.0

World Tour is now your one stop shop for all game modes! What used to be a single game mode is now a full progression system that tracks everything you do across THE FINALS. Whether you sweat it out in Ranked, push the Platform in Power Shift, or chase eliminations in TDM, every match pushes you toward your seasonal goals!

For fans of the old World Tour Tournament Mode, it’s still here, but now it’s called Cashout!

Your World Tour Badge progresses regardless of what you play and as you advance, you’ll earn Stickers, Charms, Multibucks, and Emerald rewards delivered to you at the start of the next season! Your effort now builds toward one track, making progress simpler, smoother, and more rewarding.

You’ll still earn Ranked Rewards separately, allowing the most competitive Contestants to earn additional rewards for climbing the ranks in Ranked Cashout!


Reward System | Reward Coins

Gone are the days of receiving pre-determined skins at the end of a season! If you’ve had ambitious dreams of an emerald Dagger, that is now your choice to make! Does the thought of a golden Famas make your eyes sparkle? You can pick that, too!

Introducing Reward Coins: the brand new way for you to choose any weapon skin your heart desires, based on your Ranked and World Tour progress.

There are Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Ruby coins earned through Ranked Cashout, and an Emerald Coin awarded for reaching the top Badge level in World Tour.

Sponsors | VOLPE, OSPUZE, and any one you choose!

You can now sign with any Sponsor you like, whenever you like, and swap them at any time. No more being locked in. This update is about giving you freedom, choice, and a reason to mix things up. We are also adding new loyalty tracks for the official Sponsors of Season 9, VOLPE and OSPUZE.

You can go with a Seasonal Sponsor, return to your favorite, or try a little bit of everything. The CEOs are watching, so you can prove your loyalty or leave them wondering if you’ll ever return! The Fans you earn will only go to the active Sponsor you have signed with at any given moment, so make sure you sign before stepping into the Arena. Don’t worry about the fine print!

Which brand will you wear today, Contestant?

Cashout Rules | Double Jeopardy

A new rule is coming to Cashout in the form of Double Jeopardy, a condition triggered whenever a second Cashbox is inserted in an already active Cashout Station.

When a team initiates Double Jeopardy, if they are in control of the Cashout Station as it completes, they bank all the money as normal, but if they fail to secure it they lose 50% of their current cash total.

‘Doubling’ is now a high risk strategy, allowing struggling teams to catch up, while increasing the risk for those ahead.

Battle Pass | Free, Premium, and Ultimate

The Battle Pass carries the spirit of Dragon Rising across every tier. The Free path gives all players a collection of rewards that showcase the season’s blend of heritage and future tech.

The Premium Pass opens a wider range of outfits, skins, and gear. Unlock up to 106 rewards (including bonus pages) and earn 1575 Multibucks, enough to buy next Season’s pass and then some!

The Ultimate Battle Pass is where the full theme of Dragon Rising really shines! Maximize your experience with instant unlocks and high impact styles, complete with mythic items ready for your wardrobe. It also comes with a 25% boost in Match XP, opens the full collection of 118 Unlockable rewards and 2575 Multibucks (1000 of which you gain instantly).


No matter where you start, each tier is built to feel meaningful, rewarding, and connected to the world of Dragon Rising!

Quality of Life | Expanded Options and Customizations

We’re expanding our privacy options, allowing you to fine-tune how you appear and interact with others, and select which pop ups for friend and party invites you see on screen. We’re also enabling you to send party invites to club members!

You can now “opt-in” to view an Instant Replay, giving you the ability to watch replays only when you choose to with the simple press of a button.

To end on a high note, some highly requested additions, you can randomize between your favorite skins and finally customize your multi-device tablet!


Optimization | Performance Improvements

This season we’ve reworked a lot of our physics meshes for environment and characters to reduce game memory requirements and stuttering, we have also made significant improvements to texture memory usage.

We have made several performance upgrades across the game, starting with smoother Instant Replays supported by a new download system and backend cleanup that reduces shader and state work during matches.

Hard work has gone into supporting 16 players at once in Point Break, and the improvements made will benefit all Game Modes across THE FINALS.

Kyoto has been updated to improve GPU performance. Physics have been optimized, vegetation has been rebuilt for clarity, and the bamboo forest near the Guard and Servants quarters has been refined to run more efficiently. These updates help the map feel sharper, lighter, and more responsive during busy fights.

We’re not done. Significant additional improvements to memory usage are coming soon which will reduce stutter on minimum' and recommended specs, but will benefit everyone.

Expanded Visuals | Smooth Destruction upgrade

Visual destruction is getting a major improvement this season. Objects remain attached when structures come down, giving you more realistic destruction that also provides new ways to traverse and climb through the rubble!

We’ve reworked our destruction effects to better reflect the shape and material of whatever you destroy. Walls now break apart with debris that resembles real fractured pieces, much like the way windows already shatter. These changes bring more clarity, more character, and a more satisfying hit when the Arena comes crashing down.

Major changes have come to Monaco, which has complete Smooth Destruction across the whole map! Expect more as the season continues!

Bundles | TGM25 Champion Set + 2nd Anniversary Bundle

NTMR have emerged victorious in The Grand Major 2025 and have secured their place in the history of THE FINALS! You can celebrate their success and own a piece of the action in this stunning, gold NTMR TGM25 CHAMPION SET!

NTMR and all other participating organizations in the TGM25 receive a share of the sales revenue from this bundle, so your support celebrates their triumph in more ways than one! Take home a piece of the gold for yourself and keep a souvenir from TGM25 that’s fit for a king!

You can also celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of THE FINALS with this brilliant red Anniversary bundle featuring three skins and just enough Multibucks to pick up the Premium Battle Pass!

Twitch Drops | Calvin the Cube

To ring in the new Season, we're introducing your newest pal, Calvin the Cube! Go pick up Calvin, his nametag, and his hardworking Multi-Device skin so your cubicle feels right at home! Watch your favorite THE FINALS content creator on Twitch to earn them all!


Okay, let’s look at the details:


Balance Changes

Dev Note: To hopefully make the dev notes a little less verbose, we’ve removed dev notes from some of the changes below that are fairly self-explanatory. Most of these changes are small nudges and amendments to an item with the goal of increasing their desirability/viability slightly.


Controller

• 
  Added aim snapping to the following weapons:
  
  • 
    .50 Akimbos
    
    
  • 
    BFR Titan
    
    
  • 
    CB-01 Repeater
    
    
  • 
    Cerberus 12GA
    
    
  • 
    KS-23
    
    
  • 
    M26 Matter
    
    
  • 
    Model 1887
    
    
  • 
    R .357
    
    
  • 
    Recurve Bow
    
    
  • 
    SA1216
    
    
  • 
    SR-84
    
• 
  Increased the cooldown on aim snapping from 0.5s to 0.7s
  
  
• 
  Added a 1.5s cooldown for aim snapping with sniper rifles
  
  
• 
  Added a 1s cooldown for aim snapping with shotguns, revolvers and grenade launchers
  
  
• 
  Aim snapping now scales with distance, meaning it no longer gives a stronger effect at longer ranges
  

Dev Note: This change to aim snapping at distance allows us to reduce the effectiveness of long ranged weapons at longer ranges more than we could previously. Previously, snapping made longer ranged headshots a little too easy but was constrained by how snapping worked at closer ranges, with this change they should require more aim from the player.


Gadgets

Breach Charge

• 
  Decreased cooldown from 30s to 20s
  

Dome Shield

• 
  Added the ability for Dome Shields to block the Winch Claw
  

Dev Note: The Winch Claw has been dominating the Heavy meta and this adjustment is an effort to offer some more counter-play.

Frag Grenade

• 
  Increased outer radius from 5m to 5.5m
  
  
• 
  Increased max damage radius from 2.5m to 2.75m
  

Dev Note: The Frag Grenade is a little under-powered, although it still sees very high usage and is reasonably effective. As a result, we’re only adjusting its power slightly to see how it impacts things.


Gas Grenade

• 
  Decreased cooldown from 30s to 24s
  

Gateway

• 
  Decreased max range from 70m to 50m
  

Dev Note: The Gateway has become a little too effective at allowing very long, very fast rotations by teams, cannibalizing the value of items like Zipline too much.


Glitch Grenade

• 
  Decreased ammo count from 2 to 1
  
  
• 
  Decreased cooldown 20s to 12s
  

Dev Note: This change is made to require players to be more accurate with their Glitch Grenade usage to get pay-off from it, rather than having an immediately available second grenade to cover up for misses. The shorter cooldown is there to ensure a miss isn’t overly punishing.

Goo

• 
  Increased explosive damage multiplier versus goo from 2.0 to 2.25
  

Dev Notes: Goo has become highly effective in the current meta and we want to offer some more effective counters to it. This change is to help explosive items remove goo slightly faster.

Pyro Grenade

• 
  Decreased cooldown from 30s to 24s
  

Pyro Mine

• 
  Decreased explosive damage from 80 to 55
  

Dev Note: the Pyro Mine cannibalizes the role of the Explosive Mine a little too much, this adjustment should help to address that.

Thermal Bore

• 
  Decreased fuse time from 2.5s to 1.75s
  
  
• 
  Decreased cooldown from 45s to 35s
  
  
• 
  Decreased the amount of lingering smoke, making it easier to see after it detonates
  

RPG-7

• 
  Increased damage from 100 to 110
  

Dev Note: This adjustment is mostly targeted at improving the RPG’s effectiveness versus Goo, without having a significant impact on player versus player combat.

Game Modes

Cashout Mode (including Ranked Tournaments)

• 
  Introduced Double Jeopardy mechanic. If a team ‘doubles’ a Cashout, i.e. puts a second Cashbox into an already active Cashout Station, if that team does not own the Cashout Station at the point the cashout concludes, they will lose 50% of their cash total.
  

Dev Note: This is a brand new mechanic aimed at reducing the rate of ‘doubling’ Cashboxes in Cashout and Ranked Tournaments, something many players consider to be aimed specifically at preventing the 2nd placed team from progressing to the next round of the tournament.

We want doubling to be a part of the many viable strategies that teams can use to help win the game or stage an epic comeback. Double Jeopardy allows us to keep the epic comebacks and clutch plays that ‘doubling’ offers, especially for 3rd and 4th placed teams who are playing from behind. If a 1st place team wants to ‘double’ the Cashboxes now, they’re putting their own lead on the line to the tune of 50% of their cash.

This is a considerable change to the game, so as always we’ll monitor how it plays ‘in the wild’ and will keep an eye on player feedback following its launch.

Ranked Tournaments

• 
  Cashboxes will no longer despawn when overtime begins, as they would previously
  

Dev Notes: With the addition of Double Jeopardy, this mechanic is less warranted now. This change also brings Ranked Tournaments back in line with regular Cashout.

World Tour

• 
  Renamed World Tour to Cashout
  

Dev Notes: With World Tour being moved to be a wrapper for the wider game, covering all modes, we’ve renamed the old World Tour Tournaments to Cashout.

Progression Systems

Ranked Tournaments

• 
  Increased the overall accuracy of Ranked Score (RS) calculations, which will result in slightly smaller RS changes from match to match
  
  
• 
  Re-balanced RS calculations to make first round losses in tournaments less extreme, especially for highly seeded teams
  

Dev Notes: When digging into data from recent seasons we were able to confirm the general feedback that being a highly seeded team in a match, but facing a first round elimination, could result in RS losses that might take a full tournament win to earn back. This was especially common around the Silver and Gold ranking tiers. In the most extreme cases, albeit somewhat uncommon, we saw that a first round loss could require six rounds won to recoup the RS. This change should alleviate those extreme cases.


Specializations

Mesh Shield

• 
  Increased max health from 750 to 850
  
  
• 
  Added the ability for Dome Shields to block the Winch Claw
  
  
• 
  Dev Note: This Winch Claw has been dominating the Heavy meta for a while now, so this adjustment should offer some more counter-play to it. It also should increase the viability of the Mesh Shield.
  

Winch Claw

• 
  Decreased the max stun duration from 0.65s to 0.5s
  
  
• 
  Decreased the minimum stun duration from 0.35s to 0.2s
  
  
• 
  Added functionality where, if the clawed victim is far away from the initial point of collision, the Winch Claw will break. This addresses an issue where the Winch Claw could sometimes appear to grab players around walls
  
  
• 
  Winch Claw now retracts as soon as it hits an object it can’t latch onto, reducing time spent lingering in the air
  

Dev Note: These changes aim to address some of the more common frustrations players experience when facing the Winch Claw, which has become quite dominant in the meta across multiple modes. The hope is to bring the Heavy’s Specializations more in line with each other in terms of viability/impact.

Weapons

93R

• 
  Decreased damage from 26 to 24
  
  
• 
  Decreased the damage fall-off start range from 32m to 30m
  
  
• 
  Decreased the damage fall-off end range from 40m to 37.5m
  
  
• 
  Increased the damage fall-off multiplier at max range from 40% to 50%, meaning it does slightly more damage at long-range
  

Dev Note: For much of the last season the 93R has outperformed the second and third placed weapons on damage and eliminations per round by almost 10%, that’s above the acceptable range. These changes are aimed at bringing it in line with the other top weapons.

BFR Titan

• 
  Decreased environmental damage from 130 to 95
  
  
• 
  Decreased the rate of fire from 85 RPM to 82 RPM
  

Dev Note: The BFR is the very definition of a ‘love it or hate it’ weapon, where its top end performance is very good but where its parameters put it very close to feeling clunky and ineffective to use. As a result, it makes this weapon quite hard to balance. We want to give it a fair power level without making it feel awkward to use. We hope the RPM change here brings it to the right place, but we’ll continue to monitor how it performs.

Dual Blades

• 
  Increased the damage of the the third attack in the attack sequence from 65 to 100
  

Dev Note: We feel like the Dual Blades’ full attack combo hasn’t been offering the pay-off it deserves. This adjustment should address that.

KS-23

• 
  Decreased bullet dispersion across all stances when aiming down sights (ADS) by approximately 30%, making the weapon more precise
  

Dev Note: After the positive feedback that the feel of the BFR has received, we’ve decided to push the KS-23’s dispersion in a similar direction, without making the two items too similar.

Lewis Gun

• 
  Increased damage from 22 to 23
  

Dev Note: Both Heavy LMGs have been somewhat ineffective compared to other options available to the Heavy. This slight nudge aims to push the Lewis Gun towards greater viability.

M134 Minigun

• 
  Decreased bullet dispersion slightly when crouching or standing still and aiming down sights (ADS), making the weapon more precise
  

Dev Note: Seasoned players are already able to get solid performances out of the Minigun, but we’ve noticed some casual players can sometimes struggle with it. This change is an attempt to bridge that gap, making the Minigun slightly easier to use, hopefully without buffing its top end power too much.

M60

• 
  Decreased the amount of vertical recoil during the first 8 bullets of the firing sequence, making the M60 slightly easier to control
  
  
• 
  Slightly increased the amount of vertical recoil after the 30th bullet in the firing sequence, making the M60 slightly harder to control during sustained firing
  

Model 1887

• 
  Decreased tactical reload intro animation duration from 2.2s to 1.5s, meaning the weapon reloads faster
  

Dev Note: We know that some of the Model’s reload animations have been a cause of frustration for players. We’re not done with the Model yet, it’s one of a number of guns that would benefit from a ‘reload checkpoint’ system, and it’s still our intent to introduce a system like that sometime in the next year.

V9S

• 
  Increased the damage fall-off start range from 10m to 15m
  
  
• 
  Increased the damage fall-off end range from 15m to 25m
  
  
• 
  Increased the damage fall-off multiplier at max range from 62% to 65%, meaning it does slightly more damage at long-range
  

Content and Bug Fixes
Animation

• 
  Fixed an issue where the P90 tactical reload could twist the arm unnaturally
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the left hand could briefly appear during the Model 1887 Cycle Action when using the Dough Wrangler or Eclipse Shade skins while crouching or inspecting
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue in the Practice Range where switching weapons via Change Loadout while reloading could cause the new weapon to continue playing the reload animation incorrectly
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue causing Light Contestants’ hands to twist unnaturally during interactions from a certain angle, such as stealing a Cashout
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where Contestants could appear to run in place when lightly pushing the left stick forward on a controller
  
  
• 
  Improved the animation transition from deploying to zooming in, most noticeable with the RPG-7
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where an Akimbo pistol could appear to float during hazard reaction animations (e.g., gas or fire) or during Quick Melee
  
  
• 
  Weapons are more responsive animationwise when firing from the hip while sprinting
  

Audio

• 
  Fixed an issue where the XP-54 empty reload sound could continue playing after the animation was interrupted (e.g. picking something up or interacting)
  
  
• 
  Tuned the audio mix for the Pocket Pop & Play charm’s mini-game
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the announcer’s elimination-streak line could become very quiet mid-sentence
  
  
• 
  Fixed a missing reload sound on the ARN220 so it’s audible to other players
  
  
• 
  Reduced unintended rattling/foley audio that could loop during idle or light movement, most noticeable when using the M60
  
  
• 
  Voice lines requesting revives from players who are far away are now suppressed to reduce audio spam
  
  
• 
  Added a confirmation beep when recalling deployable gadgets
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the Riot Shield's deploy animation sometimes played no sound, including during the Choose Contestant Pack
  

Contracts

• 
  Fixed an issue where "Get X eliminations in a single match, X times" Contracts could progress multiple times within a single round
  
  
• 
  Fixed issues in several Contracts where cash from the last Cashout in Quick Cash wasn't counted, the last kill in TDM wasn't counted, or cash from the last won round in TDM was counted twice
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where "Restore 1000 health to teammates" contract could be progressed through self-healing
  
  
• 
  Healing Emitter healing now correctly counts toward the "Restore 1000 health to teammates" contract
  

Cosmetics

• 
  Emote props no longer fall through the floor during use
  
  
• 
  Store offer previews for custom animations now match the animations rarity
  
  
• 
  Added the ability to favorite skins for use with skin randomization
  
  
• 
  Fixed blurriness affecting large headwear on Player Cards
  
  
• 
  Fixed the hair from Liquid Assets to stop clipping with certain headwear
  
  
• 
  Fixed clipping issues between the Captain Ironmark Head and ballistic masks for better character appearance
  
  
• 
  Fixed exposure compensation for TGM25 Red & Gold weapon skins so the red stripe no longer appears too dim in bright light or too bright in dark lighting
  
  
• 
  Moved the PULSAR Ski Mask from Facewear to Headwear
  The cap is now removed when wearing the Skimask with hoods to avoid clipping
  
  
• 
  Fixed visual distortion and spawn delay when using the Pressed Advantage gesture while moving
  
  
• 
  Fixed clipping on the Bats & Jacks upper body item when using the muscular Heavy body type
  
  
• 
  Adjusted the R.357 inspect animation to reduce finger clipping when using the QuickSpark sight with the Plundersteel skin
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the Minigun's Loadout Loaded Deploy animation sometimes played only partially
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where some CL40 skins applied the wrong texture to projectile shells
  
  
• 
  Fixed cases where headwear could clip with ears or nose on certain face shapes
  
  
• 
  Added an Ogre voice effect when equipping the Ogre Head item
  
  
• 
  Fixed severe clipping on the La Furia Cempasúchil headwear at lower settings
  
  
• 
  The Protocol Core and Shadowframe Suit now supports Pets and is compatible with upper-back items
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where Player Cards could appear low-resolution in menus
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where Contestant Pack icons on player cards could appear blurry
  
  
• 
  Adjusted sticker placement on the FCAR Disciple of Sound skin so stickers are no longer obscured by the hand during the Inspect animation
  
  
• 
  The CL-40 skins Corecharge Melt, Arcadia Obliterator, and Toybox Trigger now eject the correct casings (spent cans, retro cylinder, and toy shells) instead of default shells
  
  
• 
  All eyes will now work with the Arch Rival face
  
  
• 
  Fixed distortion on the Stacktrace Reaper and Verisect Duality skins for the .50 Akimbo, improving visual clarity
  
  
• 
  Adjusted the diver outfit in first-person view by reducing shoulder size and removing the net to prevent visual obstruction
  

Gadgets

Thermal Bore

• 
  Fixed an issue where the Thermal Bore could pass through surfaces (including Goo) without activating
  

Game Modes

Private Matches

• 
  Added support for the Point Break Game Mode
  

Quick Cash

• 
  Fixed a rare issue where cashout stations stopped spawning
  
  
• 
  Fixed a rare issue where cashboxes could not be inserter
  

Powershift

• 
  Due to a snag in the travel path of the platform, Kyoto has temporarily been removed from rotation and will return in 9.4
  

Gameplay

• 
  Cannons are now physics-enabled, reacting to movement, forces, and collisions for more dynamic interactions
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where aim assist could continue targeting an eliminated player
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue with aim assist that would cause it to move incorrectly when switching between targets
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue that would cause the reload to start to early after firing the last bullet on some weapons
  
  
• 
  Thrown Carriables now activate more reliably when thrown
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where firing immediately after equipping some weapons could result in missing firing and recoil animations
  
  
• 
  Fixed friendly Practice Range bots not shooting at enemy bots and enemy bots not shooting at the player
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where switching from the Lockbolt to the M60 or Lewis Gun caused ADS times to be longer than intended
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where attempting to retrieve a Guardian Turret or Healing Emitter immediately after equipping it could ignore the input
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue with Ziplines that would sometimes make contestants jitter when using them
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue with Quick Melee not respecting cooldown when swapping items
  

Dev Note: This change addresses the Quick Melee ‘rapid fire’ exploit that we’ve seen in matches recently

Maps

Nozomi/Citadel

• 
  Fixed floating ivy
  
  
• 
  Fixed z-fighting (where two textures are overlapping, causing them to flicker) between overlapping ground materials, including areas under a staircase, to improve visual clarity
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where objects in the CNS streets area could disappear when viewed from above
  

Monaco

• 
  Enabled Smooth Destruction on all buildings, allowing them to collapse into nearby structures to cause more realistic looking destruction
  
  
• 
  Refined destruction in the Cathedral area
  
  
• 
  Fixed a hole in the ground near the Cathedral that could appear after a wall was destroyed
  

Seoul

• 
  Fixed collision on a backdrop to prevent unexpected interactions
  
  
• 
  Fixed a misaligned occluder on the mall facade that caused visual glitches and allowed players to clip into the wall and fire from unintended angles
  
  
• 
  Adjusted geometry in the Under Construction variant to prevent players from clipping into a vent and firing from an unintended position
  
  
• 
  Fixed an occlusion issue on an apartment building that could allow clipping and unintended line-of-sight through walls
  

Bernal

• 
  The Hotel’s pool jump pad is now present in all variants and game modes
  
  
• 
  Fixed floating tree branches after destroying a stump in the Residential area
  

P.E.A.C.E. Center

• 
  Fixed floating sandbags after destruction
  

Kyoto

• 
  Adjusted cover and traversal options around Hillside, Pavilion, Training Quarters, Guest House, Entrance and Villa Compound to account for vegetation optimizations and readability improvements
  
  
• 
  Simplified basement layout of the Entrance building
  
  
• 
  Adjusted the map border in the Villa Compound (TDM) so it no longer cuts through a jump pad
  
  
• 
  Brightened materials for better lighting and optimized the bamboo backdrop for improved visual clarity
  
  
• 
  Cleaned up a small fence near the new central jump pads
  
  
• 
  Fixed incorrect wallpaper material in the entrance house
  
  
• 
  Fixed missing collision on the lake beneath the bridge in the Villa Compound area
  

Fangwai City

• 
  Added Fangwai City to the map rotation for Cashout, Ranked Cashout, Quick Cash, Head 2 Head and Team Deathmatch
  

Fortune Stadium

• 
  Fixed incorrect materials on some building modules
  

SysHorizon

• 
  Fixed a spot where players could become stuck on a campus rooftop
  

Performance

General

• 
  Instant Replays now use an updated download system that improves performance during playback
  
  
• 
  Improved performance by reducing redundant shader and state work during matches
  

Kyoto

• 
  Optimized physics to improve performance
  
  
• 
  Reworked vegetation around the Villa Compound storehouse to improve performance and readability
  
  
• 
  Reworked bamboo forest around the Entrance, Guest House and Hillside to improve performance
  

Rendering

• 
  Reduced flickering artifacts of ambient lighting, especially in movement on vegetation
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue that sometimes caused textures and meshes to flicker between higher and lower quality states
  
  
• 
  Adjusted streaming budgets on Xbox Series S, resulting in fewer blurry textures and low-poly models visible
  

Social

• 
  Added expanded privacy settings in Social options, including muting individual notification types or muting all notifications
  
  
• 
  Removed redundant "Join Their Party" option in the Social menu when already in a party
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where using a controller to report a player from the Blocked tab in the Social menu could prevent the Send Report button from being selected after entering text
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where accepting a Discord party invite on an unlinked account would not place you in the party
  
  
• 
  Console text chat: The virtual keyboard now stays open during HUD transitions and respawns, preventing messages from being cleared
  
  
• 
  Added the ability to invite Club members to your party directly from the Clubs screen, including a quick invite option
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the quick invite button could reappear on Player Cards before an invite expired
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue that prevented party voice chat from working and sometimes failed to show the voice chat icon next to teammates
  
  
• 
  Blocked players are now clearly marked in Clubs, and Invite to Party is no longer available for them in Clubs or the Player Info panel
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where Private Match could appear locked for parties of 4 or 5, preventing lobby creation in World Tour
  

Specializations

Dematerializer

• 
  Fixed an issue where the wall preview would appear before the Dematerializer could actually be activated, causing some button presses to be ignored
  

Winch Claw

• 
  Fixed an issue where a player could be winched after teleporting with via the Gateway
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where, in certain scenarios, the Winch could pull players through walls, by reducing pull speed and making the Claw release the target if they become stuck
  
  
• 
  Reduced cases where the hook could connect to opponents behind cover by requiring recent line-of-sight to attach to targets
  

Spectator

• 
  Fixed a bug that prevented Spectators from switching between Contestants in Private Matches using Prev/Next inputs
  

Stability

• 
  Improved late-join behavior so map destruction is correctly synchronized when entering an ongoing match
  

UI

• 
  Fixed the new item marker for Appearance cosmetics to they now appear on the Appearance tab and clear correctly when inspected
  
  
• 
  Added team icons and a dedicated icon for team wipes in the elimination feed, visible to both players and spectators
  
  
• 
  Added a Specialization icon to player health bars and a setting to show or hide it
  
  
• 
  Added support for friendly opacity when the Enemy Color option is enabled, improving clarity of teammates on screen
  
  
• 
  Fixed Weapon and Gadget previews appearing offset in the Customization tab
  
  
• 
  Added a Favorites filter to customization items to make browsing favorited cosmetics easier
  
  
• 
  Reworked Motion Blur settings: added a new "Weapon Only" mode that applies blur only to the first-person weapon and hands, and a slider to adjust motion blur intensity
  
  
• 
  Updated tooltip descriptions for the Effects and Overall quality settings in Video Options
  
  
• 
  Fixed a rare issue where certain in-game HUD elements could disappear when skipping replays
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where SR-84 ADS did not appear in spectator view and Instant Replays
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where store tiles could display the wrong video or thumbnail after scrolling
  
  
• 
  Fixed a missing reload input hint for the Minigun when input hints are enabled
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where Contestant tiles could briefly appear as black on the pack selection screen at match start
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue with controller where you could lose focus on the Loadout selection overlay when pressing the ping button
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where skipping an Instant Replay could leave the screen red until respawn
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where player and enemy outlines could display in red instead of the correct squad color
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where Player Card backgrounds could reset when navigating back in the customization screen
  
  
• 
  Added quality settings to the RTXGI editor menu, including an option to toggle software global illumination
  
  
• 
  Fixed the APS Turret health bar not updating when shot and lingering briefly after the Turret was destroyed
  

VFX

• 
  Fixed an issue where destruction debris on Monaco could fall out of bounds when landing on indestructible ground
  

Weapons

Melee Weapons

Fixed an issue that allowed melee attacks to be animation-cancelled to attack faster than intended


Known Issues

Battle Pass

• 
  When purchasing the Premium+ and Ultimate Battle Pass, you may need to refresh by exiting and re-entering the Battle Pass Screen in order to see your 20 unlocked tiers
  

Security

A new season and a new update from the Anti-Cheat team.

As a result of rolling out Denuvo and Anybrain we've gained additional datastreams, resulting in a significant upgrade to our cheat detection capabilities. Perhaps one of the most significant upgrades since we started this journey.

As a result, detections related to input manipulation, aimbotting, anti-recoil, as well as hardware-assisted cheats have gone up significantly.

This uptick in detections has led to a string of community discussions where players feel they have been banned for no apparent reason. To address this we have conducted a series of investigations to rule out any false positives. It’s worth noting that some of our detections are conservative in nature. They gather data over time, minimizing the possibility of a false positive.

There are lots of moving pieces in this line of work and the cheating landscape is constantly evolving, but so are we.

As always, we are in it to protect you, our players!

///Magnum

Continue reading...

 

It’s the last update before Season 9! That’s when Dragons Rising starts and we begin year 3 of THE FINALS!

To everyone who attended The Grand Major 2025, watched from home, cheered us on, and supported the teams, we want to extend a huge thank you! We can’t wait for TGM26 and to lose our voices all over again screaming in the stands! Congratulations to NTMR on taking home the trophy!


STORE UPDATE | MISS ELIMI-LATTE SET


Picture this: the sound of coins falling, the sweet taste of victory blending with a warm pumpkin-spice latte… The Cashout is yours, Contestant. This week, let the competition know you cannot be bothered, and if they don’t understand, share your warmth by throwing your cup directly at their face. Sharing is caring, after all.


EVENT | SPONSOR SHOWDOWN


Two sponsors, only one winner, Sponsor Showdown has begun! Playing any game mode in THE FINALS will earn fans for your chosen sponsor. It’s time to show the audience what you’re made of as HOLTOW and TRENTILA are closely watching over the Arena.

PREVIEW EVENT | DECEMBER 8


There’s no better way to celebrate the 2 year Anniversary of THE FINALS than a streaming event to showcase Season 9! Tune in to your favorite streamer for a first look at the new season!

If you are a content creator and would like to be included in the Preview Event, sign up here for an opportunity to be invited!

Continue reading...

 

A NEW YEAR OF CONTENT IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!


As we approach the end of Year 2, we’re kicking off the #RoadToYear3 with a roar: Season 9 | Dragon Rising. We’re very excited to reveal new features and updates, starting with today’s theme reveal!


Tune in daily on your favorite social platform for sneak peeks of what’s coming and don’t miss the full Reveal, live during The Grand Major 2025 this Saturday, November 29 at 8:30 AM ET / 2:30 PM CET on twitch.tv/thefinals!

Continue reading...

 

NEW CONTRACTS | BLAST OFF SOUR CORE



BLAST OFF SOUR CORE new contracts are now in! POP. POUR. PERFORM and get brand new OSPUZE to show off in the Arena.


This limited time event lasts up until the end of the Season.

STORE UPDATE | MYTHIC ITEMS AND A NEW SALE



This week's store update is bringing up an Arena’s Legend with the Ursa Set. Born from MultiCo’s Early-Talent Program, Ursa dominated the arenas for years, turning every match at every Grand Major into a spectacle.


Bring up the heat with the Flame Fusion Set, fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee with the Silent Sakura Set, and make the sponsors proud with the M.E.T.P Honors. Show off your skills with the P90 Motion Pack.


We’re also running a sale on a few favorite items: Noctovantage Set, The Aggressor, Rose Garden Set, HOLTOW Insurance Set, Jockoflorian, and Juggle Jam.


New countries are also joining the parade of nations: welcome Jamaica, Iceland, Philippines, and Croatia!

WORLD TOUR STOP | DEAD GO TOXIC


World Tour is deadlier than ever in the new Dead Go Toxic! A new twist on the classic Dead Go Boom, you better be careful in close contact! Upon elimination, contestants drop gas bombs that will trigger after a few seconds. Don't stay in the radius or get poisoned.

EVENTS | THE GRAND MAJOR 2025


Tomorrow is the biggest event THE FINALS has seen yet, The Grand Major 2025! 16 teams, 2 days of competition, only one Champion.

Take part of History in person at Dreamhack Stockholm, or join us virtually via Twitch and YouTube.

Join us Friday 28th, 12pm CET & Saturday 29th, 10am CET.


SPOILERS | SEASON 9


While you may have seen some teasers on our channels, the best is yet to come! Connect Saturday 29th at 2:30PM on the Dreamhack Stream for Season 9 reveals. Right on stage, Creative Director Gustav will be showing us some previews for the Season to come.


SEE YOU IN THE ARENA

Continue reading...

 

For almost two years now, THE FINALS has been a game shaped by the continuous love of the Embark team and its players. Every day we are grateful for the energy you bring to the Arena, and for the support that has kept us building, improving and evolving.


With our biggest event yet, The Grand Major 2025, our approaching third year anniversary, and the coming Season 9, our journey together continues, filled with passion, creativity, and the occasional destruction.


We'll be honored to celebrate this milestone with your support. Vote for us in the Steam Awards: Labor of Love 2025 before December 1st!

Continue reading...

 

STORE UPDATE | THRASH HARVESTER SET


You know TRENTILA for its real fruits, grown in the Transatlantic Landfill from postconsumer sediment, but now is the time to also gear up for the Arena. This week, TRENTILA is bringing only the best in terms of fashion and firepower. Make them taste the difference!


That’s not all, you’ve already met ÖRF and his friend Chubble, well it’s only fair we bring their third companion: Pip! Listen, there’s a lot we could say about Pip, but... We’ll let you figure that one out yourself.


And a warm welcome to India, Czechia and Peru, joining the rest of the Calling bundles!

TGM25 | THE GRAND MINGLE 2025

With only days separating us from the biggest event in the history of THE FINALS, how about we invite YOU to come meet US? We will be at the Quality Hotel Globe on November 27 from 6PM to 10PM CET, with some drinks and snacks. If you’re interested and you’re in Stockholm for the Grand Major, feel free to fill the form below, and we’ll see you there!

Sign up for the Meet-up is available here: The Grand Mingle 2025

Continue reading...

 

Welcome to update 8.9!

This week, we’re bringing some fresh content your way as well as a long list of bug-fixes, quality-of-life changes and performance improvements thanks to various engine-level optimizations. This update also includes a more robust Spectator mode, an essential feature for our community and the upcoming Grand Major 2025. Season 9 is right around the corner and the team has been hard at work, and we can’t wait to share more with you all soon.

Let’s take a look at everything Update 8.9 has to offer:


NEW LIMITED-TIME MODE | BLAST OFF SOUR CORE

Welcome to the BLAST OFF SOUR CORE! Enter a sour-apple flavored section of Bernal with your tuned-up CL-40, Jump Pad and Evasive Dash and take to the skies! With low gravity on and launch pads in every corner, you’ll do your best work in mid-air!

In this iconic 3 vs 3 Limited-Time Mode, movement is the key to victory. Keep your energy up and never let your guard down!

Out-blast the competition while enjoying a cold OSPUZE courtesy of our generous guest Sponsor! This event will run longer than usual, giving you plenty of time to complete contracts, earn up to 10 free rewards, and make sure your name shines on the top of the leaderboard!

POP. POUR. PERFORM.

STORE UPDATE | WILD POUR WEST SET

This week’s update is all power, no sugar, thanks to OSPUZE.

POP em’ faster than they can PERFORM with the Wild Pour West Set and if necessary, the Zestinator RPG is there to make your message extra clear. And so much more!

ESPORTS | GET READY FOR THE GRAND MAJOR 2025

In case you missed it, check out this hype trailer to get you ready for the Grand Major 2025! We’re getting closer to the big date now! We’ll see you in DreamHack, in person or on Twitch!

UPDATES | PRIVATE MATCH SPECTATOR

Private Match Spectator mode just got smoother and sharper. Hosts can now set separate squad colors for players and spectators, making it easier to follow the action. The team HUD now shows exactly who’s stealing a Cashout, so spectators never miss a clutch moment. We’ve also cleaned things up, the round counter is gone from single-round modes like Blast Off, and that pesky controller bug in the lobby navigation has been fixed.

STARTER BUNDLE | NEW CONTESTANT PACK + 1500MB

New Contestants who want to top up their Multibucks and their style now have the New Contestant Pack, a bundle that comes with OSPUZE gear and 1500 Multibucks. Pick up this one time deal today, Sofia is watching!


SOCIAL | VOICE MODERATION TEST

In an effort to improve the quality and safety of Voice Chat, we’re rolling out the testing of a voice moderation system to help keep conversations safe and enjoyable for everyone. To accommodate the new system, you’ll need to venture into settings and re-enable voice chat and voice moderation in order to participate in voice chat!

We’ll be monitoring this tool to see if it is effective in helping to combat abusive comms in game, hopefully making it safe and fun for more Contestants to enter the Arena with a mic! Your feedback will be an important part of this evaluation process.

EVENT | XP & FANS BOOST ENABLED

Need a hand finishing your Battle Pass or gathering some extra Fans for your Sponsor track? We’ve got you covered! Starting now, you’ll get 200% XP for Daily Contracts and up to 150% XP and Fans for gameplay all the way until the end of the season!


To celebrate the season, we’re calling this one MAJOR XP!


UPDATE | PLAYSTATION 4 SUPPORT

With each new Season of THE FINALS, our technology keeps pushing forward with recent features like Smooth Destruction and Instant Replays and major upgrades in performance and optimization. These improvements are shaping the future of the game, but they also demand more from the hardware that runs it.

As we continue to advance, it’s become increasingly difficult to maintain and optimize PlayStation 4 support, without limiting the features and gamemodes we want to create. Some of our latest systems simply aren’t compatible with the older generation’s technology, and ensuring an identical experience for our players across all platforms means making some tough trade-offs.

When Season 10 begins (18th of March, 2026), we’ll be retiring the PlayStation 4 version of THE FINALS and focusing our support on newer platforms. From that point on you’ll need to play on one of those platforms to keep enjoying the game (your progress and purchases will be stored in your Embark ID and will transfer to anywhere you choose to play). We’re finalizing the details now and we’ll share more information shortly.

Our focus now is on delivering the best possible experience across modern platforms where we can take full advantage of the tech that drives THE FINALS forward.

We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who’s been part of the PS4 community!


REWARDS | TWITCH DROPS

To celebrate the release of OSPUZE SOUR CORE in the meatspace we’ve got a brand new suite of refreshing Twitch Drops coming your way! Watch any of your favorite THE FINALS creators for a total of 4 hours to earn all three drops!

IMPROVEMENTS | QUALITY OF LIFE

Notable fixes in this update include the addition of Instant Replays to Xbox Series S! Never miss a play!

We’ve also fixed a very annoying bug that would prevent players from using Respawn Tokens after being revived while in the Loadout Change screen.

We’ve also been digging deep into performance this patch, identifying many of the in-game stutters that were caused by high memory pressure on the client side, which was caused by high memory pressure on the client side. This update brings major optimizations to help fix that including smarter shader caching (cutting precompiled shaders by 25% and PSO memory by 20%), leaner textures, graphics, and collision meshes, plus smoother replays and improved threading on lower-core CPUs. We’ve also tuned raytraced global illumination for better performance and cleaned up the Weapon and Gadget customization screen. In short, fewer hitches, faster loads, and a smoother ride all around.

Let’s dig into the details:

Content and Bug Fixes
Animation

• 
  Fixed a first-person visual issue where the Heavy body could briefly clip into view when sliding when looking down.
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the first-person arm could sweep across the screen when repeatedly picking up and dropping Arena Carriables
  
  
• 
  Fixed a brief distortion in the Recurve Bow charging animation when starting a shot immediately after attaching to a Zipline
  
  
• 
  Fixed a first-person animation issue that could make hands look distorted when inspecting the Pyro Grenade while vaulting
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the throwing animation could loop after firing the Recurve Bow and quickly swapping to throwable gadgets
  
  
• 
  Updated the sprint animations for Recurve Bow and Sledgehammer
  
  
• 
  Fixed a first-person animation issue where the left hand could jitter or clip when performing the Dagger Primary Attack, followed immediately by charging a Secondary Attack
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where C4 could visibly snap toward the hand when throwing while inspecting
  
  
• 
  Fixed missing animations in places such as self shadows, emoting, or using the Mesh Shield
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where animations could end up in a distorted state after teleporting through a Gateway
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where Gadget throwing animations could play when vaulting
  
  
• 
  Improved jump/landing transition animations while winding up Grenade throws
  
  
• 
  Improved animation blending when inspecting during manual reload on ARN-220 and M26 Matter to prevent hand and finger clipping
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the Throwing Knives of choice did not appear when thrown
  
  
• 
  Fixed cases where melee attack animations could fail to play after using a Gadget for Spear, Sledgehammer, Dual Blades, or Dagger
  

Audio

Cashout

• 
  Added more commentator voice line variations when a team is wiped
  

Customization

• 
  Fixed emote holograms overriding the props on gestures
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where performing actions like reload or inspect during an emote could reset the equipped weapon animation to the default animation
  
  
• 
  The Web Designer Pet now moves smoother
  
  
• 
  Fixed the rifle hologram in the Top Billing Emote from ALFA ACTA so it now renders correctly on player cards and billboards and appears as a proper hologram instead of a solid mesh
  
  
• 
  Fixed a visual issue where the left hand could briefly flash on screen while crouching or inspecting during the Model 1887 cycle action when using the Dough Wrangler or Eclipse Shade skins
  
  
• 
  Added description to heads and headwears that modify the Contestant’s voice
  

Gameplay

• 
  Improved destruction to reduce jitter and prevent buildings from ‘jumping’ during collapses by adding velocity limits and adjusting post-break impulse behavior
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where destruction updates could desync the strain system, causing structures to break excessively
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where Vanishing Bomb invisibility could persist after firing the last bullet of some Weapons
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where changing between crouching and standing during an interaction (e.g. stealing) could cancel it when near the edge of the interaction range
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where you couldn’t respawn with a token after being revived while the loadout screen was open
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the incorrect team would win in Powershift if Overtime was triggered while the platform was at the center of the map
  
  
• 
  Fixed and issue where the healing emitter would sometimes not starting healing after throws
  

Instant Replays

• 
  Added support for Instant Replays on Xbox Series S
  
  
• 
  Optimized the time it takes to transition in and out of Instant Replays
  

Map

SYS$HORIZON

• 
  Slightly adjusted some of the cubes around the voxel bridge connecting the two Library wings to remove some narrow unexpected sightlines between them and make climbing into the upper floors more intuitive
  

Fortune Stadium

• 
  Fixed Zipline rotation to ensure correct orientation
  

Kyoto

• 
  Fixed grass clipping through Jump Pads and improved their integration with better level dressing and guidance
  
  
• 
  Corrected in-world branding visuals
  

Las Vegas

• 
  Fixed some ladders and Ziplines around the ENGIMO building having the wrong color
  

Practice Range

• 
  Added the Heaven or Else leaderboard trophy
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the Loadout selection overlay didn’t block background input
  

Performance

Dev Note: Various system memory optimizations are listed below. We have seen that high memory pressure can cause in-game stutters due to page faults. The goal of these optimizations are to reduce memory pressure and thus lower the risk of stutters during gameplay.

• 
  Optimized shader cache based on graphics quality. Reduces precompiled shaders by ~25% and PSO memory usage by ~20%.
  

Dev note: Note that changing Effects quality during gameplay may trigger shader compilation and cause brief stuttering.

• 
  Various optimizations to textures, graphics and collision meshes in order to lower memory usage
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue that could cause overly blurry textures and lowpoly meshes when running close to video memory limits
  
  
• 
  Rebalanced raytraced global illumination graphics quality settings to improve performance
  
  
• 
  Improved performance on the Weapon/Gadget customization screen
  
  
• 
  Improved performance by optimizing audio systems
  
  
• 
  Improved threading efficiency on CPUs with low core count
  

Private Match

• 
  Host can now set squad colors separately for spectators and players
  
  
• 
  Removed the round counter from the Choose Contestant Pack screen when a mode has only one round (e.g. Blast Off)
  
  
• 
  Spectators can now see which player is currently stealing a Cashout in the team HUD
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where navigating the Private Match lobby could move focus out of visible options and cause lost menu control when confirming with a controller
  

Social

• 
  Improved reliability and performance of rich presence to more consistently show player status to friends
  
  
• 
  Friends set to invisible/hidden on their platform no longer trigger “went online” entries in the event log
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the Social menu didn’t update immediately. Requests, Recent, and Blocked tabs now refresh without needing to leave and re-enter the Social menu
  
  
• 
  We’re testing a new voice moderation tool, so all voice chat settings are turned off by default in this Update. Go into your settings to re-enable your voice chat by enabling voice moderation
  
  
• 
  Improved Discord friend presence updates: when a friend returns from Invisible/Offline, their status now refreshes correctly instead of appearing as Online Elsewhere or In Main Menu
  
  
• 
  Fixed a VoIP issue where leaving a match while in a party would mute both members, requiring them to re-enable voice chat
  
  
• 
  Fixed a bug where the Xbox icon was shown on the Xbox platform for Discord-only friends
  
  
• 
  The ‘join game’ functionality is no longer shown on your Steam profile. Now random friends will not be able to enter your party uninvited
  

Spectator

• 
  Improved spectator experience by making the spectator launch into the follow player view after the initial tunnel sequence
  
  
• 
  Improved spectator death camera: when spectating in first-person and the player you’re watching is eliminated, the camera now briefly tracks the killer before transitioning to their perspective for a smoother handoff
  
  
• 
  Added a spectator option to hide player names and health bars beyond 80m, with a toggle to control visibility at long distances
  
  
• 
  Added an option to hide all HUD elements in Spectator mode, including world icons and scoreboards
  
  
• 
  Spectator HUD:Team background color now covers the full bottom bar
  
  
• 
  Changed the default keybind for toggling ranged health bars from L to Y while spectating on Mouse & Keyboard to avoid overlapping inputs
  
  
• 
  Improved spectator team view with a gradient backplate and corrected horizontal alignment in the right-side
  
  
• 
  Added more fine-grained camera control
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where UI glitch/burst damage effects could persist on screen after switching from Follow Player to Free Camera while spectating in Private Matches
  

Stability

• 
  Resolved a rare crash that could happen when ending a private lobby session
  

UI

• 
  Fixed an issue where game mode specific Loadouts could not be re-ordered
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where newly purchased weapon skins and other customization items were not equipped after purchase when selecting equip
  
  
• 
  Clarified the Social screen by adding separate labels for muting and unmuting voice and text chat
  
  
• 
  Fixed multiple bugs where Fans earned at End of Round could appear negative
  
  
• 
  Added a confirmation dialog when creating a new Contestant from Playstyles
  
  
• 
  Removed non-functional Create Contestant button when at the maximum number of Contestants
  
  
• 
  Added mouse-over sounds to voice customization and expression lists
  
  
• 
  Restored missing compass in certain event modes
  

Ranked Tournament

• 
  Improvements on the tournament introduction and outro screen now more accurately represent the selected archetype and, in some cases, will show more customization options
  
  
• 
  The Windows activity bar will now flash to notify players of a started game
  

Team Deathmatch

• 
  We have now added Match Recap to TDM!
  

Cashout

• 
  The scoreboard now considers ongoing Cashouts when sorting teams
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the the distance to the objective was not visible on objective icons
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the Cashbox distance marker could flicker when many world icons were on screen
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where, if an opposing team is in possession of the Cashbox when a squad respawns, the Cashbox icon could go invisible forever.
  

Clubs

• 
  Fixed an issue where the Clubs background theme showed incorrect colors or defaulted to red after viewing the end-of-round landing page
  

Weapons

Spear

• 
  Fixed an issue where the secondary attack could become unresponsive for a few seconds if it was interrupted by the Winch Claw
  
  

Security

Updates from the Anti-Cheat team!

Denuvo rollout is now complete and is working almost beyond expectations.
Anybrain rollout is also complete and has proved to be a valuable tool for us in detecting Xim and Cronus Zen like devices.

We are constantly improving our detections and investigating new capabilities to ensure we keep THE FINALS fair and secure for our players. It’s full steam ahead and we’re getting pretty warmed up!

Finally, we’d like to take the opportunity to advise against using third-party tools like Cheat Engine. Depending on how it is used, it could lead to warnings or a direct ban.

/Tom and Magnum

Continue reading...

 

Update 8.8.0 - LIVE AT 11AM CET


WORLD TOUR | HEAD HUNTER

This week, Head Hunter is making its return to the World Tour!

You will need to stay on your spurs and watch your back: the more eliminations you get, the bigger the bounty on your head grows. If someone gets the drop on you, they’re taking your bounty home with them.

STORE UPDATE | EMBER BENDER

Unleash the dragon in you and make them see red with this week’s fiery Ember Bender Set. Let your opponents taste TRENTILA’s latest real fruit (but better) with the Better Nature set. Nearly 0% side effects! We also welcome Belgium and Denmark to the Arena.

ESPORTS | NEW TEAM BUNDLES & MAP UPDATES

Additionally, we have five brand-new team bundles dropping into the store!
That’s right, the last esports’ teams are joining the competition and are ready for you to represent them in the Arena.


FIVE FEARS x COMETA
APE SQUAD x JUNO PAICO
FN ESPORTS x OMNIALIFE
DRG x HYDRA-Q
KINGZERO X RANZIO


You may also have noticed that the crowds have gotten bigger lately! We’re getting the Arena ready for The Grand Major 2025, so you’ll see bigger stands, grander decorations, and lots of hype to get ready for the first official esports tournament!

Tune in or come see us live at DreamHack on Nov 28-29!


Content and Bug Fixes

Performance

• 
  Crash fixes for Server
  
  
• 
  Crash fixes for Client
  

Social

• 
  The in-game social menu will no longer show accounts from players who have been blocked on Discord
  

Continue reading...

 

Update 8.7.0

STORE UPDATE | CORN TO BE WILD SET

Whether your aesthetic is Corny Halloween or the festive el Día de los Muertos, this update has something to help you celebrate!

Also, Switzerland and Italy are also getting their bundles in the store, ready for you to fly their colors.

EVENT REMINDER | GHOUL RUSH & THE HAUNTED HARVEST

Welcome to the second week of Ghoul Rush! We’re impressed with some of the wild tactics you’ve been using to avoid your ghoulish demise or to get that one last standing survivor. If you haven’t checked Ghoul Rush yet, now is the time!

Also, make sure to keep on smashing those pumpkins for some sweet, sweet free rewards. The harvest shall be plentiful, as long as you don’t let them rot! And if you do, well, you can always purchase that missed reward with Multibucks.

Content and Bug Fixes
Cosmetics

• 
  Adjusted the balance between Combat and Support score for Yin-Yang Bang set, it should now result in a more dynamic skin that changes with your actions throughout the match
  

NOW AVAILABLE | ARC RAIDERS

We’re so excited to finally be able to say this: ARC Raiders is live!
To celebrate the launch, everyone will receive a FREE gift including a Scrappy charm and an ARC Raiders sticker sent directly to your InGame mailbox. We hope to see you in the Arena… and Topside!

Happy ARC Raiders day, Contestants!

Continue reading...

 

Hello all, we just pushed a Hotfix to address two issues from the Midseason Update.

This Hotfix will fix:

• 
  An issue causing a crash
  
  
• 
  An issue causing your choice of enabling/disabling Open to Friends in the Social Menu to be kept between sessions
  

Continue reading...

 

Welcome to Season 8’s Mid-Season update, grab a snack and an OSPUZE-infused pumpkin spice latte because you’re in for tricks.. And plenty of treats!

Read what we’ve prepared for you below, if you dare.


NEW EVENT | GHOUL RUSH

Did you hear that? That’s your cue to run!


In GHOUL RUSH, everyone starts off as a Survivor in this brand new, limited-time, Free-For-All mode. Get eliminated even once, and you’ll be doomed to spend the rest of the round as a Ghoul, hunting down the remaining unturned Contestants! Each match lasts for three intense rounds, so you'll have time to switch your tactics and seek revenge!


Earn cash as a Survivor by eliminating Ghouls and other survivors, by staying alive for as long as you can, or by making it to the end of the round as the last surviving Contestant! Once you’re a Ghoul, earn cash by eliminating Survivors.


Enter the foggy and frightening ALFA-ACTA P.E.A.C.E. Center for this event and take a fixed loadout with you, depending on your choice of Heavy or Medium Build. Once you’re a Ghoul, you’ll need to either rely on your Sledgehammer or your trusty Dagger and, of course, what’s left of your wits!


Can you survive the Ghoul Rush?

---

COLLECTION EVENT | THE HAUNTED HARVEST

Since Ghouls have taken over the Arena and Halloween decorations hang in every hall, it’s time for a scary new collection event! And this time, we’ve reinvented the wheel, and created The Haunted Harvest!


For the next 14 days, you’ll be given an extra daily contract. Completing this contract allows you to pick one pumpkin to smash and reveal a reward. If you complete all of these contracts, you’ll get every single reward for free, including a Legendary set! However, miss a day and one random pumpkin will rot on the stem, and you’ll only be able to unlock it by purchasing the prize.


Rewards are randomly distributed in pumpkins and pumpkins will rot in random order, so pick wisely in the pumpkin patch! You unlock the Legendary Swamp Formal set only when you have unlocked all 14 prizes (by winning them or buying them) in the Haunted Harvest! So come back every day and don’t be scared, the Haunted Harvest has more treats than tricks!

---

GAME MODE UPDATE | TEAM DEATHMATCH

We have disabled defibrillators and friendly totems as we believe it does not fit the current play-style for this mode. TDM is meant as a fast-paced mode, with a very short respawn timer, and to allow players to swap their Loadout anytime. Now, you don’t need to waste time, or a slot in your Loadout, on reviving your teammates or get revived before you can swap your gear.

---

GAME MODE UPDATE | POWER SHIFT


Bring the struggle of platform ownership into the streets of NOZOMI/CITADEL as it joins Power Shift’s maps pool! This map has always represented a fight for victory between two powerhouses, now you can continue the struggle as you ride the platform to the goal! Have fun, Contestants!

---

SOCIAL | EMBARK ID & DISCORD INTEGRATION

Starting today, you will now have access to new awesome social features thanks to Discord integration. Your Discord friends can now receive a party invite directly within their Direct Messages and even join your party directly if “Open Party to Friends” is toggled-on in the social menu! To do this, you’ll need to have your Discord connected to Embark ID, which you can do in-game starting today! Just go to Settings then Social then Account. This feature is not available on PlayStation at this time.


In the account menu, you’ll also have the option to change your Embark ID directly within the game. The same 30 day cooldown in-between changes applies, and it’s good to remember that your Embark ID is the same across all Embark games!

---

IMPROVED FEATURES | INSTANT REPLAYS

Since the introduction of Instant Replays, there have been millions of replays watched already. But the work isn’t over and today, we’re bringing a new feature to our replay system: Projectiles and Turret’s POV!

And the cherry on top, Instant Replays will now end with a smooth slow-motion effect, how cool is that?

---

NEW DLC | THE APOTHECARION & CHIRURGEON SETS

Medical license? Nonsense! All you need is a long mask filled with herbs and a can-do attitude!


We’ve got two new bundles available for you, each comes with 2400 Multibucks. So if you’re topping up, make sure to grab The Apothecarion or the Chirurgean set and take on the competition and the plague in the style that is out of this time.

---

STORE UPDATE | LIQUID ASSETS SET


As we get closer to All-Hallows Eve, the store just keeps getting creepier and crawlier! From flaming swords to weapons that change their look based on your playstyle, there’s something for everyone…except maybe arachnophobes (sorry)! Topping it all off is the Stakeholder set, serving undead chic!

We also welcome new flags to the Arena: Ireland and Lithuania!

---

TWITCH DROPS | HALLOWEEN

Continuing with the Halloween theme, we’ve got all new Twitch drops for you to claim! Watch anyone streaming THE FINALS with Drops Enabled to get the Witching Drop charm (2 hours) and the Patch Splitters throwing knives (4 hours)

---

WORLD TOUR | TRENTILA


We’re also proud to welcome TRENTILA as the new sponsor of WORLD TOUR, which returns to standard Cashout this week. Contestants who have signed with TRENTILA will tell you that they offer the Taste of Tomorrow.

---

On top of all this, we’ve got plenty of bug fixes and changes to introduce! Let’s check ‘em out:


Content and Bug Fixes


Cosmetics

• 
  Adjusted skirt movement on certain cosmetic combinations in order to reduce clipping
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the top of the flag capes would sometimes clip into Heavy Contestant's upper back
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where some T-shirt’s clipped with Crossbody items
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where turtlenecks had clipping issues with arms on low settings
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the CNS Crossbody on the Muscular Heavy Build would not display the CNS glitch effect
  
  
• 
  Updated position of the Sword, Sledgehammer, SR-84 and Model 1887 when inspecting in the menu to better fit the view
  
  
• 
  Improved Pet animation to smoothen out the animation, regardless of player framerate
  
  
• 
  Fixed the ENVY team logo not displaying correctly on the ENVY Weapon skin for the SA1216
  
  
• 
  Fixed compression artifact on the ENVY bundle Helmet
  
  
• 
  Fixed the lightning effects from the Ned skin being visible through smoke
  

Game Modes

TDM

• 
  Disabled revive statues and removed Defibrillators
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue with a spawn in SYS$Horizon that caused players to fall underneath the map
  

Head 2 Head

• 
  Added the Match Summary Report to the end of the round
  

Powershift

• 
  Added Nozomi/Citadel to the map pool
  
  
• 
  Disabled the Alien Invasion game show event to avoid unexpected overtime losses when lifted off the platform, and to avoid destruction related performance issues
  

Gameplay

• 
  Fixed the Turret deployment animation and Turret laser not appearing correctly in replays
  
  
• 
  Added ability for Instant Replay to show the perspective from various Gadgets such as Grenades and Turrets
  
  
• 
  Added slow-motion effect at end of Instant Replays
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where players were unable to move after opening the Loadout screen on the same frame as respawning
  
  
• 
  Fixed issue where the Player Card or damage log could get stuck on the screen
  
  
• 
  Removed Instant Replays from playing on friendly eliminations
  
  
• 
  Tracking effects from Sonar Grenade, Proximity Sensor, and Tracking Dart will now reveal players through smoke and will reveal Cloaked players who are standing still
  
  
• 
  Fixed issue where spamming spacebar to respawn could prolong the spawn timer
  
  
• 
  Improved hit detection, resolving rare cases where hits would not register as expected
  

Maps

General

• 
  Updated the visuals of the construction crane rope and fixed an issue where it disappeared on low graphics settings
  

Bernal

• 
  Re-enabled the Suspended Sponsor Structures map variant now that the lighting issues have been resolved
  

Kyoto

• 
  Updated residential and hatch roof ridges to prevent vaulting unintentionally
  
  
• 
  Updated the collision of the rock meshes in the villa compound garden, allowing deployables to be placed in a more expected way
  
  
• 
  Fixed a noticeable seam in the lake of the Kyoto map for better visual continuity
  
  
• 
  Solid bushes in Kyoto have been reworked for consistent behavior with other vegetation
  

Las Vegas

• 
  Fixed sponsor color on Ziplines
  
  
• 
  Simplified the collision of the railing set to fix an issue where players could get stuck between railing and wall
  

Nozomi/Citadel

• 
  Added an extra cube for cover next to Cybercafe along The Rift, and slightly adjusted a jump pad on the Operations Center side so players can reach the new cube
  

Practice Range

• 
  Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in the ceiling by using the Gateway
  

Seoul

• 
  Fixed the Seoul Hospital skybridge so it consistently breaks when one side is destroyed
  
  
• 
  Fixed a collision issue where players could clip into background buildings
  
  
• 
  Updated railing modules and placement in garden area to better indicate where there is a death pit and where there is a safe area to drop
  

SYS$HORIZON

• 
  Fix for middle backdrop building blocking players and bullets
  
  
• 
  Fixed the floating square mesh so it breaks when relevant architecture is destroyed
  
  
• 
  Slightly adjusted the size of a floating cube between the Library wings to avoid an unintended angle where you could shoot the feet of other players
  
  
• 
  Brought back the missing destruction VFX and SFX in the Campus area
  

Performance & Stability

• 
  Improved in-game UI performance
  
  
• 
  Reduced some stutter caused by increased memory usage
  
  
• 
  Updated the recommended NVIDIA driver version to prevent potential compatibility issues
  
  
• 
  Improved performance in the Social section
  
  
• 
  Resolved a rare client memory stomp crash when updating animations
  
  
• 
  Fixes to our most common crashes
  

Private Matches & Spectator

• 
  Fixed a bug where it was possible to change your Loadout after reconnecting to Ranked Cashout in Private Matches
  
  
• 
  Improved spectator experience with interaction sounds and progress visualization
  

Social

Discord Social Integration

• 
  You can now connect/disconnect your Discord account to your Embark ID in Settings > Social > Account.
  
  
• 
  This feature is available on Steam, Xbox and Xbox on PC. It is not available on PlayStation
  
  
• 
  Connecting your Discord account will now enable THE FINALS to provide you with enhanced social experiences so you can share your Party size, game mode, and Time-in status in your Discord Rich Presence
  
  
• 
  You’ll be able to see your Discord friends who play an Embark Game in-game
  
  
• 
  Will allow you to invite your Discord friends to join your in-game party on Discord, even if they don’t have the game running
  
  
• 
  Will allow your friends to join your open party directly from Discord
  

Social Friends Screen updates

• 
  A unified friend list that combines both Discord and Embark friends into one list
  
  
• 
  New icon for the invite friend button
  
  
• 
  Improved performance for very large friend lists
  
  
• 
  You will always be shown at the top of the party list
  
  
• 
  You can now set your party to Open to Friends on the Social Friends screen, which allows any in-game friends to join your party by clicking on your player profile in the Social Friends screen and selecting the option ‘Join Their Party’. This setting is set to off by default.
  Dev Note: The open/closed state is reflected in the rich presence; a yellow party icon is shown with party size when it is open, and a gray lock is shown if it is closed in a closed party.
  
  
• 
  You can now change your display name in-game by going to Settings > Social > Account and choosing Edit Embark ID in order to update your name.
  Dev Note: Your Embark ID can only be updated once every 30 days.
  

Specializations

Grapple Hook

• 
  Activating the Grapple Hook will now cancel any ongoing interactions
  

UI

• 
  Fixed teams sometimes having different positions in the HUD scoreboard versus the overlay scoreboard
  

VFX

• 
  Fixed a collision issue which could result in destroyed glass particles floating in the air
  
  
• 
  Optimized the Ultimate BP smoke FX so that it no longer obstructs the player view when aiming down sights
  
  
• 
  The effect visible on characters detected by Gadgets has now been updated to be more visible in smoke
  

Weapons

M60

• 
  Reworked the base model for a much needed facelift
  Dev Note: The new model only applies to the base M60, and new M60 skins going forward
  

Riot Shield

• 
  Updated walk animations when the shield is up to align better with the shield’s collision
  
  
• 
  Removed hit reaction animations in 3rd person if a Contestant is hit while shielded to minimize collision mismatches
  

Security

Fresh update from the Anti-Cheat team.


Denuvo AntiCheat turned out to be a perfect complement to our existing tools. Rollout will start with this release, and complete by the end of next week.


Anybrain, which we have spoken about earlier, is also becoming a part of our ever expanding toolbox to fight cheaters from all angles.


We have also been hard at work targeting gamepad spoofing, releasing updated detection capabilities with this release.


And finally, please keep sending in player reports and any other information you believe could be of value to us, it really helps us in our work to keep THE FINALS exciting, fair and secure!

// Tom and Magnum

Continue reading...

 

In this update, we’re goodbye to HEAVEN OR ELSE, so set down your Spears and stop chucking the Healing Emitter, it’s time for a new World Tour Event:


RUSHDOWN brought to you by HOLTOW


Bring a new meaning to hit-and-run with this week’s new World Tour Event! In Rushdown, you’ll be able to pick up a burst of speed from any eliminated contestant! Enjoy 5 seconds of super speed for every boost you grab, and outrun the competition!

Go get ‘em, speedsters!

---

A NEW BOO-TIQUE


We’ve got another collection of bewitching Halloween themed items coming to the store today! Both new and returning pieces that will help you keep it grim and proper in the Arena. Check out these fang-tastic finds, so you can look bat to the bone!

Also, we’re welcoming our fellow Nordics today, Finland and Norway joining the parade of nations!

---

5 NEW ESPORTS BUNDLES COMING SOON

For the Fans in the stands!

Five new bundles are dropping in the shop, so make sure to rep’ your favorite team’s colors in the Arena! Each one is backed by a Sponsor and ready to battle it out on the main stage at DreamHack in Stockholm, Nov 28-29


Vanguard Gaming x DISSUN

Team Secret x IVADA

Gen.G x ENO+RINO

FNATIC x VAIIYA

TSM x TRENTILA


Still don’t see your favorite team? Don’t worry, there are more bundles to come before The Grand Major!

---

IMPORTANT NOTE: You may be able to purchase the bundles already in some console stores, but you won't see them in game until they are fully released, which will happen very soon!

Continue reading...

 

Welcome to week 2 of HEAVEN OR ELSE!


This week, HOLTOW introduces new contracts for you to complete to earn those smoldering rewards! Keep poking, spinning and Chucking your way to the Pearly Gates!


A bewitching Store

You may notice that things are looking spooky in the Arena! Monaco, Seoul, Kyoto and SYS$Horizon have been sprinkled with decorations to celebrate the season of the witch!


The store is also ready to help you celebrate October in style with a mix of old and new classics to help you frighten the competition! A squeaky new Sword that’s more dangerous than it looks and skins that will show everyone your sweet side!


Note: we have an incorrect tag on the Cashout Conjurer Set that claims it will expire in 1000s of days. In reality, it will expire in about 28 days. We’ll fix it as soon as possible!


Also, in our parade of nations, this week we welcome The Netherlands and Japan!

We’ve got one small balance change that will help us investigate an issue:


Balance Changes

Weapons

Riot Shield

• 
  Reverted latest collision update on the Riot Shield
  
  Dev Note: We have noticed that the last update to the collision of the Riot Shield came with a few issues so we have now gone back to the previous iteration while we figure out why the update didn't work as expected. The updates to the blocking of steals is unaffected by this.
  

Continue reading...

 

We’ve just pushed a hotfix for some of the issues you’ve been encountering since yesterday’s update. Thank you everyone, as always, for helping to report these issues to us!


Bug Fixes:


Contracts

• 
  Fixed an issue with the "Complete Daily contracts" contract from Heaven Or Else not progressing properly
  

Game Modes

• 
  Fixed an issue with Heaven Or Else rounds not counting toward Quickplay Progression
  

Weapons

• 
  Fixed an issue where the BFR was not using hitscan, causing it to be ineffective at long range
  

Continue reading...

 

NEW LIMITED-TIME MODE: HEAVEN OR ELSE

Get ready to shine in HEAVEN OR ELSE, a limited-time, 5v5 showdown where Contestants will fight for their lives (and their afterlives!) armed with a Spear and a few extra tools fine-tuned for the competition! Sweep, spin and poke players to knock them off the celestial surfaces of the Final Stage Arena!

Pierce the competition and secure your glory! Keep your health and your spirits up or you’ll be sent plummeting down through the clouds. You won’t turn into coins here, but the lower your health, the farther you’ll fly, so keep your feet on the ground or you’ll head for the clouds!

Complete contracts to earn up to 12 free rewards over the next two weeks. Play with fire but don’t get burned!

Sponsored by HOLTOW Pearly Gates Insurance, your key to eternity.

STORE UPDATE

This week’s store update asks you to choose between good or evil! Pick your side with the two new companions Quill and Cinder! But we all know Nama Tama is the cutest, Double Yolk earrings oblige. Prove a point with the Mandate Javelin, or two more with the Malebolge’s notice trident.

If you are feeling patriotic, the Poland and Greece bundles are now in store. As the competition is heating up sooner than later, The Grand Major 25 Prime selection is the perfect fit for all your tournament needs!

Speaking of tournaments…


ESPORTS BUNDLES HAVE ARRIVED

It’s never too early to show your champions some love! The Grand Major 2025 is still a few weeks away, but the first collab bundles are coming in NOW! No efforts were spared from our Sponsors and their signed up teams:

ALLIANCE x ENGIMO

ENVY x OSPUZE

PULSAR x ISEUL-T

KCP x ALFA ACTA

NTMR x VOLPE

SSG x HOLTOW


Support your favorites by wearing their colors, and by buying their bundles! When purchasing a set, its team will get a share of each sale, with another portion going to a common pot that will be split across the board for all qualified organizations (the rest goes to platform fees and Embark).

Not seeing the Qualified Team you are rooting for? More bundles will be coming in future updates!

TWITCH DROPS

Tune in to your favorite stream and earn Twitch Drops items. The Broadcast Blaze set is now available on all streams with Twitch Drops enabled until October 16th 2025. Watch for 4 hours, and go get those free cosmetics for the M26, Cerberus, and ShAK-50! Don’t miss your chance!


AND MORE

No more one size fits all! The Revive statues just received an upgrade with a Light and Heavy format! Know who’s who at a glance.

And for the patient S3 Ruby players, a S3 player card badge just dropped in your inventory.

Now let’s get into the details:


Balance Changes

Gadgets


Breach Drill

• 
  Decreased activation sequence duration from 3s to 2.5s, making it faster to trigger after deployment
  
  
• 
  Decreased cooldown from 25s to 20s
  

Smoke Grenade

• 
  Decreased the duration of smoke from 15s to 9s, meaning it stays in the world for less time after deploying
  
  
• 
  Decreased the amount of ammo from 3 to 2
  
  Dev Note: We’re aware that cashout steals using smoke have become an increasing frustration for many players, due to their frequency and limited counters. We have several long-term improvements on the way in the coming months for smoke, but in the short term we hope these nudges to Smoke Grenades will make them a little more balanced.
  

Game Modes

Cashout (World Tour & Ranked Tournament)

• 
  Updated how respawn positions are decided after team wipes, reducing the chances that teams spawn very close to each other
  
  Dev Note: Related to Cashout in World Tour and Ranked, but not to the direct change above, we want to acknowledge that we’re aware of community sentiment around ‘doubling’ cashouts, especially in tier three, and its ability to ‘grief’ out the second placed team and we’re working towards a solution for it. Our hope is to be testing some changes in the live game relatively soon, but we have no set timeline. We wanted to let you all know so you’re aware that it’s being worked on.
  

Weapons

BFR Titan

• 
  Decreased damage from 98 to 90
  
  Dev Note: This change is mostly aimed at removing the Winch Claw plus BFR headshot attack combo on Lights which, now that the data is in, has proven to be more rapid and easier to execute than we expected. The change shouldn’t negatively impact most other ‘shots to kill’ breakpoints, so for the most part the weapon should feel as it did before.
  

Content and Bug Fixes

Animation

• 
  Fixed inspect animations blending badly together with interacting animations in 3rd person
  
  
• 
  Fixed a small inconsistency when going from aim down sight to sprint in first person
  
  
• 
  Fixed deploys and inspects breaking when activated while climbing off a ladder
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the Weapon sometimes disappeared for a short while after using Charge N’ Slam in the air
  

Audio

• 
  Fixed an issue that caused double respawn sounds when exiting a replay
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where incorrect introduction voiceovers were sometimes played in Cashout
  
  
• 
  Minor tweak to the P90 firing sequence to make it sound less suppressed
  

Contracts

• 
  Daily Club Contracts now display the total number of contracts that can be accepted/completed instead of showing the number of contracts available to be accepted
  

Controller

• 
  Fixed an issue that caused controller input to be processed while the game was not in focus
  
  
• 
  Changed the buttons used to back out of a pop-up notification to prevent the accidental canceling of matchmaking
  

Customization & Cosmetics

• 
  Fixed an issue where the Player Card displayed wouldn't match the eliminated contestant
  
  
• 
  Your pet will now play its audio when you Emote in game
  
  
• 
  Improved the colliders on punk-style outfits to reduce the erratic movements of shoelaces and chains
  
  
• 
  Fixed issue with Visible Line in Solar Safeguard, Blazing Guarantee, Radiant Protection and Blinding Warranty skins on certain AMD graphics cards
  
  
• 
  Addressed issue causing an artifact near Dale the Whale's mouth
  
  
• 
  Pets now play sounds in the Store and Battle Pass
  
  
• 
  Fixed the Sensorveil Bomber jacket clipping with Emblems and upper back items
  
  
• 
  Fixed the clipping of head and ears on the Impact Unit V3000 mask
  
  
• 
  The item descriptions now show the correct origin of items from Battle Passes
  
  
• 
  Fixed visual glitches on Mischief League heads when viewed in third person \[909001] Reduced clipping and added physics simulation to the necklace in the Sick Trick Rick outfit
  
  
• 
  Headband will now have a better fit and less clipping when combined with multiple facewear items
  

Game Modes

• 
  Updated the scoreboard in Ranked Cashout in private matches to hide certain info, such as scores, so that it matches the functionality of the scoreboard in Ranked Tournaments
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where it was possible to change your loadout mid-round in private match ranked cashout games.
  
  
• 
  Powershift platform path should now properly display in replays
  
  
• 
  Fixed issue where you started with 4 respawn tokens in a private match ranked Cashout.
  

Gameplay

• 
  Fixed an issue where weapon audio could get stuck while in a replay
  
  
• 
  Fixed issue with hand getting stuck when interacting with an object, also called the hand-gun bug. Interactions have now been improved and should appear smoother and more correct than before
  
  
• 
  Fixed FOV setting affecting the visibility of the Dematerializer's first-person vfx
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where objects picked up just as you launched on a jumppad would trail behind and eventually fail to be picked up. With this change the failed pickup in this situation will happen much sooner to reduce frustration
  
  
• 
  Revive statues will now have a unique look for Lights, Mediums and Heavies!
  
  
• 
  Address doors, ziplines and platforms being in the wrong locations in replays in some situations
  
  
• 
  Fixed a corner case that could leave players stuck in a replay
  
  
• 
  It's now again possible to use the back key to leave the drafting screen
  
  
• 
  Fixed so respawn markers doesn't block interaction line of sight validation which could for example interrupt steals
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue that made it harder to place down deployables
  
  
• 
  Increased aiming accuracy for Grapple Hook and Winch Claw
  
  
• 
  Fixed so the revive effect plays in the correct position if the respawn statue was moved from its original spot
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where Grenades and projectiles would trigger effects twice when used simultaneously with another of the same type
  

Game Show Events

• 
  Flying saucers now spawn near the closest active Cashout Station during the Alien Invasion game show event
  
  
• 
  Alien Invasion is now enabled again on SYS$Horizon, Fortune Stadium, and Nozomi/Citadel
  

Maps

General

• 
  Fixed players being able to go outside of certain maps when spectating
  
  
• 
  Reduced planter beds so that they are now a set height across multiple maps
  
  
• 
  Fixed issue where tree stumps wouldn't destroy properly on destructible ground, leading to visual and gameplay issues
  

Bernal

• 
  Temporarily disabled the Suspended Sponsor Structures map variant due to a lighting bug that caused them to be completely dark
  

Fortune Stadium

• 
  Added out-of-bounds border to prevent players using Gadgets to access unreachable areas
  

Kyoto

• 
  Fixed step up height for temple pillar stones
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue with the Kyoto pagoda roof causing unexpected destruction behaviour
  

Monaco

• 
  \[Fixed issue with cannon collision not matching visuals[/p][/*]

Nozomi/Citadel

• 
  Replaced the zipline between the corner of Apartments and Cybercafe with Jump Pads
  
  Dev Note: Taking out this zipline and forcing enemy teams to approach Cybercafe head-on made it hard to cross The Rift unscathed. This change now provides a reliable option to flank from the side.
  
  
• 
  Slightly moved a player spawn in the corner of the Research Facility that was next to the underpass
  

SYS$Horizon

• 
  Increased the health of the large cubes from 1000 to 2000 so they're more consistent with other large/sturdy geometry
  
  
• 
  Campus cube garden corner:
  
  • 
    Split some of the extra large cubes into multiple
    
    
  • 
    Added a few cubes for extra cover
    
    
  • 
    Raised a part of the ring surrounding the ball for extra cover
    
    
  • 
    Reduced the size of the ‘Big Cube’ next to the rooftop to make it less of a dominating vantage point
    
• 
  Campus voxel bridge corner:
  
  • 
    Added a secondary voxel bridge underneath that connects with a vent to the classroom
    
    
  • 
    Added extra cover on and around the street
    
    Dev Note: The cashouts at the two outer corners of Campus have been tricky to contest. With these changes we aim to give players more ways to approach and play around these areas, and reduce the speed at which these areas become too empty.
    

Seoul

• 
  We have reduced the length of the exposed hospital roof by 8 meters, and added a 16 meter overhang at the end. Effectively shortening the exposed area from 60 meters down to 36 meters
  
  • 
    These changes also enable a host of new gadget and movement opportunities both for approaching teams and teams that defend/spawn in the back wing
    
• 
  An additional doorway and vent were added to the side of the back wing, to allow for quicker exits and new flanking opportunities.
  Dev Note: We’ve wanted to address this particular pain-point for a while. Our challenge was to address it in a way that maintained the original design intent, since a lot of the surrounding area was built to support that. We have some smaller changes planned for the future to help with jump pad placement, but didn't want to delay these larger adjustments. As always, we will be monitoring the effectiveness of these updates and will make further adjustments where needed. Thank you so much for all your feedback
  

Skyway Stadium

• 
  Added soil ground meshes to planter beds above Medical Center to help player flow
  

Private Matches & Spectator

• 
  Fix for back input closing the team customization modal instead of dropdown menu
  

Settings

• 
  Added descriptions to explain why certain Video settings are grayed out
  
  
• 
  Unify size and opacity of all option buttons
  

Social

• 
  Fixed so that the chat is scrollable using the scroll-wheel anywhere in the chat window
  
  
• 
  Added support for official clubs
  

Specializations

Winch Claw

• 
  Increased how much visibility is needed for Winch Claw to successfully hook an enemy player
  

Stability & Performance

• 
  Optimize memory usage by showing simplified characters on the tournament overview screen on systems with 16GB RAM or less
  
  
• 
  Improve reliability of Embark systems during platform outages (e.g. if steam is down, game is still playable)
  
  
• 
  Improve performance when browsing the customization screens
  
  
• 
  Potential fix for one of our most common animation related client crashes
  

UI

• 
  Improved the pacing of the Player Card sequence to better fit the Instant Replay flow
  
  
• 
  Fixed various input hints not updating correctly when keybindings are changed
  
  
• 
  Updated the emote list to be name-based rather than icons for easier overview
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where badges was incorrectly rendering over the transition screen in the winners’ sequence
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where hitmarkers could appear after respawning
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue causing the incorrect name to be displayed on weapon animations in the customization menu
  
  
• 
  Updated overview stats on a some Weapons (Famas, CB-01, KS-23, Model, XP-54) to fix inconsistencies and incorrect reload durations on single-bullet reload weapons
  
  
• 
  You can now set your preferred color to reticules!
  
  
• 
  Added playername to the Match report
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue that caused the current ammo count to not be displayed in the inventory for certain weapons
  

VFX

• 
  Fixed an issue that would cause all in-flight visual effects to restart when changing Effects quality in the Video Settings
  

Weapons

Melee Weapons

• 
  Fixed an issue where the damage from melee weapons could be incorrectly blocked by the world even though the enemy player was hit
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where Dome Shields and Mesh Shields would incorrectly block melee attacks
  

Riot Shield

• 
  Improved collision alignment
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where moving in front of a Cashout Station could cancel steals
  

Spear

• 
  Fixed the secondary attack not showing properly in 3rd person when being winched
  
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where the primary attack animation could go missing in 3rd person
  
  
• 
  

.50 Akimbo

• 
  Fixed an issue that caused bullet dispersion to grow slightly faster than intended
  
  
  

[/LIST]

Continue reading...