THE FINALS Situation Is Getting Concerning....

[@Ethan-AndrewCupido]

Combo, you could've kept going for another 5-10 mins bro , you aren't rambling haha, Your opinions are valid . And I think you covered the topic really well . The Finals really does need to find a way of holding onto new players. And I feel that they should go deeper in embracing the gamesshow part of the game.. Also I read, some time ago on the Discord server that The finals was kinda "launching" post launch, they wanted to go big in 2025 , so we'll see if that includes Marketing and addressing player retention, aside from the bundle drop they've been uncharacteristically quiet , but yeah we'll see .

[@CalmZinCombo]

Appreciate the insightful response man! I know I can ramble at times, glad that wasn't so much the case here lol. The 2025 launch angle is something I've heard as well. Gonna pin this comment so people can give their opinions!

[@jupe5764]

Yeah, they need to add more gameshow events. The current ones are honestly super annoying and predictable. Adding more gameshow events that don't emphasize destruction might also allow players with lower end pc's to withstand the intense frame drops destruction does to their game.

[@suzukisuzuki-md8fl]

3:44 I have been told that Unreal engine 5 is not well made ! with a lot of performance issues . Marvel rivals is a very good marvel game running smoothly . Normies love Marvel and Chinese people boost the numbers too so it's very good to know that . Embark can't fix UE5 , If the game is not buttery smooth most people can't give it a 2nd chance so to me the best priority is to make it run perfectly . players can't talk about the technical issues but they remember the experience and how they felt while playing . If Marvel rivals has no bugs and the finals does have some they'll leave the game . Advertisement can be a double-edged sword if the game has bugs . investing their money in fixing the game is more superior than a 100k esport or even advertisement .

[@theshadowx]

​@@jupe5764 They need to lean more into the gameshow feel and chaos... They should make more chaotic gameshow events, more flashy gadgets, maybe even make maps even more vertical, but also try to build more lore

[@logansteadman]

@@CalmZinCombo You probably haven't seen my comment, so I thought I should reply to you directly and get your opinion. Here's the original comment! I feel like something fun would be like a creative mode that could be shared with the community. Imagine a grappling or dash race! Imagine a heavy Hammer and Hook mode! Or, what about custom Cashout maps made by teams in the community? It would be so cool to see the creativity of The Finals community!!

[@ShayDeeYT]

I think a big issue we have to accept is they probably don’t have an actual “marketing department” at all.

[@Shiruvan]

clue : they messed up on Scotty's voice on S5 start, when they admit using 3rd party team to make the recommended videos. now they stopped at all.

[@DerpusDingler]

Marketing isn't the main issue IMO. People keep parroting this sentiment as if Embark doesn't know marketing exists or like Embark doesn't have data, which they must find pretty frustrating honestly. As much as we like the game, you can guarantee Embark wants it to succeed even more than we do. The game needs fundamental changes to its core modes/gameplay, THEN marketing. It's over a year old at this point and has done nothing but drain players slowly. People are aware the game exists - they just don't want to play it.

[@The-endless-learning]

The reasons I left are abysmall solo q experience and the length of WT/Ranked matches. I can not be bothered playing for upto 40 minutes every match, thats just too much.

[@therockerlegend8241]

How about we don't accept it? There's nothing saying we have to accept that they don't have a marketing department.

[@michaelmemory6938]

That’s not it. A good game will market itself through word of mouth. How many new people did try it but fell off due to some grievance they couldn’t put up with? Stop blaming an unprovable cause, and think outside the box.

[@Wafflecombo54]

They need to pair all the new players in the same lobby Level 70+ players shouldn’t be getting paired with lvl 17s.

[@andrearaschini7305]

In Italy we say: it's the dog biting his tail. You need a huge amount of players to do a good sbmm.... And you need a good sbmm to get a huge amount of players

[@bazio5592]

Not enough players, dead game

[@andrearaschini7305]

@@bazio5592 players can find games almost istantly, devs release updates weekly, a 100k pro tournament Is scheduled for 2025 The community Is tiny, but the game Is not dead at all But if you feel better saying that, it's ok

[@ray4157]

I think it's fine if it's casual or quick play. But not for ranked

[@RealMisterDoge]

I have seen some very, very bad level 50+ players

[@kepipek6598]

I feel like part of the reason they arn't marketing super hard right now is because it isnt very casual friendly right now. And they want to make it more approachable first.

[@CalmZinCombo]

Definitely possible, I wonder if they'll make any significant changes next season to make it more approachable

[@iiTzXDXDXD]

Hard disagree! Casual friendly isn’t the identity of this game. Its a competitive FPS and has a high skill ceiling for a reason. I don’t want this game turning into the disaster that Apex has become or a hand holding hero shooter like MR

[@xandaer13]

​@@iiTzXDXDXDa game needs a thriving casual audience to sustain and grow or else It will slowly wither away. It can SURVIVE with a niche audience but clearly this wasn't their initial vision. I don't want a spellbreack 2.0 situation tbf

​@@iiTzXDXDXD And it's called THE FINALS for a reason

[@paincast2347]

Actually, I started playing it with friends couple months ago because we’ve got tired of CS and we ranked platinum yesterday, the game is amazing, probably the best FPS I’ve been playing for last 10 years and it deserves to be way more popular :)

[@SW_Morika]

The marketing is the biggest problem when i speak abaout finals they say i dont know waht is that game

[@CalmZinCombo]

100% same situation here

[@user-ne9sd4ow1o]

Optimization and new player experience are a way bigger issue.. No amount of marketing can make people play a stuttering, hard to understand game. I love the game. Lvl 74 currently. My buddy tried to play a few times and he was not enjoying himself. His main complaints were the obnoxious cosmetics and its too competitive/fast paced

[@LochNess_Playz]

​@@user-ne9sd4ow1o Obnoxious cosmetics is kinda crazy bro

[@charleshawk6668]

Must be your circle. When I bring it up, people either play it, heard of it and want to get in, or stop playing as much.

[@kevinfortsch]

I literally just started to see marketing for it on Facebook of all places....after 4 seasons

[@user-ne9sd4ow1o]

New players: I gotta grind hours just to unlock guns gadgets while getting stomped? Im out..

[@kkadzh3625]

Isn’t that not like alloying games You make a new character start with nothing…?

[@dennisv1882]

Yep, that was me, losing matches because medium doesn't start with defib, the akm doesn't have red dot sight by default, guardian turret is clunky and Zipline was locked too on top of having to learn the maps and all the other mechanics.

[@fresh8178]

Sounds like a skill issue I had no problem

[@lisandromanzi1909]

​@@dennisv1882go play warzone

[@user-if9pp4vg7g]

@@dennisv1882 They nerfed the defib into the ground lol its just ok-ish now. Also unlocking stuff and progression is a part of every game. It doesn't even take that long to unlock everything.

[@gamewithconcept]

I have been grinding this game out after taking a break since season 1 and absolutely am loving it. I unfortunately have played enough to purchase every Weapon and Gadget for each class and their peripherals such as sights. Now I am capped out and feel like the games I am playing are for minimal season pass and account leveling. My overall suggestion would be to have another store of average skins for weapons and characters that you could spend (500 / 1000 / 2000) VR's on that can be applied and clean your capped currency up to then earn more while playing. As of now, it is just useless until they release more weapons, gadgets or attachments. Additionally, as they expand in to the "Club System" perhaps there are rewards where people can "donate" extra VR's into the clan and receive skins or have access to a clan store with some sort of skins that are editable or reflect team colors that can be worn together during queued matches. Would also be nice to have a "Clan Matchmaking" option that folks could queue into (3v3) or (5v5) specifically against other clans for some type of leaderboard or leveling. Back in the good ol Halo2 days, the clan system was fantastic and literally all we played between (Minor) and (Major) clan battles. This would be a dope add IMO and open some more doors for leaderboards and gaming for a joint purpose. Last item would be the social system. It needs a complete overhaul and needs to have more user friendly UI's that are inviting for folks to add new players, invite (for more than 10 seconds) and has ways to improve on making new friends. I am still loving this game, would really like to feel there is a deeper reward for the time invested with the VR system and social aspects with clans and general social discovery. TLDR; VR Currency Store (Skins for Weapons/Character) | Expand Deeper on Clubs (Game Modes | Leaderboards | More Customization (Colors | Uniforms | Etc.) , bought with VR Currency) | Social System Revamp (Better Invite System | Recent Players | etc.)

[@user-ne9sd4ow1o]

Improved social would do alot! You can't even message players in pre game lobby. You have to use voice chat

[@slappyjo1046]

And I thought I played too often

[@dennisv1882]

You are so right, especially with the improved social system, I feel as if I could make really good friends in this game but, because we don't get to interact at all besides when they rarely accept an invite, we just can't bond enough to get along better. Some games that do this extremely well are LoL and Valorant.

[@Wavyintelguy]

I Agree wholeheartedly

[@MrSinyminyGamer]

I love all of this. Especially the VR investment into a clan shop.

[@chanceypate5077]

As someone who loves a ton about the finals, I rarely feel the urge to play the game. I played it consistently season 1 and 4 but every other season did not click for some reason. Also, none of my other friends play the game and if they do, rarely. We usually rotate between CS2 and Marvel Rivals. I feel like I would need to make new friends in The Finals community but I'm not sure if I really want to do that just to consistently enjoy the game that I admire and wished I wanted to play. A big thing that frustrates me and burns me out is the matchmaking because when I solo queue I feel like I am almost always the best player on my team, but we're still the team in last place.

[@onikrux]

very relatable.

[@dennisv1882]

Same problem here, although I do have the urge to play the finals often enough, probably because end of season 4 was my first season. I have friends who play the finals but they just don't seem to enjoy playing with me, they have around 400 hours and mainly play world tour, whereas I mostly play quick cash and have 130 hours or so.

[@Major_K_2]

I have found its actually quite fun to play with randoms on The Finals if they have a mic and you are willing to maybe try different play styles if you think they are worth it. I have A LOT of people that I do not know that are in my friends list now on The Finals so I almost always have...or had someone to play with when I wanted to squad up. I did the same thing over my years of playing PUBG. Most of my friends come and go from both those games (moreso its hard for all of us to get on at the same time) so its nice having people I can jump in with and just enjoy the game with. That being said I really haven't played a whole lot since the end of Season 3, I got two jobs and only get to game once a week, big sad.

[@jessegaudet5835]

Same. I’ll die and spectate another player and it looks like that’s the first game they’ve ever played.

[@erjaeger4757]

My group has added like 20 random people,l. Everyone’s cool, funny, some are sweaty some are noobs but we’re all having a great time. All you have to do is add people, not only your team but the other team too, especially those who are really good

[@oigboi]

The scariest part is that the finals is already budgeted to 8 season meaning they’ve already been paid to make 8 seasons. Which makes sense as to why they still put out good events and shop when they’ve said before that the player count is lower than expected so we really have no idea what’s going to happen to the finals after season 8 and it’s scary bc I’ve put money into this game trying to support it and it might just go down like xdefiant and every other fps that comes out nowadays that isn’t cod.

[@porafriken]

i hope it survives but even if it doesn’t, at least we experienced it

[@emirsuleymantanrkulu]

The game looks like something that comes from my mouse software, aim-lab or smth, but just multiplayer and sweaty. COMP FPS industry should realize destruction, more than 2 teams in a match, and classes etc will never cater to masses. CS GO works because there aren't classes, destruction and multiple teams to fight, and art direction is better than FINALS.

[@MrEvakin1]

@@emirsuleymantanrkuluIt’s a good thing your opinion doesn’t matter because sheesh, that was a whole lot of nothing yap you just said.

[@emirsuleymantanrkulu]

@ ok lilbro see you at discontinuation announcement lol

[@MrEvakin1]

@@emirsuleymantanrkulu No you won’t, tens of thousands of people play this game daily. Use your head champ.

[@gorillaslayer52]

I 100% agree with the new player experience sentiment, it's a joke. I was at a friends house and his FIRST MATCH had a emerald player with 20,000 kills or something along those lines. And it was a pattern following that game. It's really unfortunate and had us frustrated.

[@WhiteVipor]

Made a new account just to test, and my first 5 ish games in world tour were only against emerald teams while my teammates were bronze

[@nathanielrasey]

As an average player (lvl 73) The Finals is SUPER sweaty. I have NEVER played ranked and I got slapped with a lobby full of emeralds and even some diamonds in quick cash. I am not that good or sweaty. I either get stuck with super sweats or 2 lvl 15 noobs as a lvl 70+ player. The game NEEDS a lvl lock system where people of similar ranks are locked to others their level. EX: 1-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40........etc. Or maybe 1-20, 21-40. Something to stop them from getting stuck with the higher level people and us stuck carrying.

[@Marcello-q6n]

This is a major issue, I agree man. I got my brother setup on a new computer and decided to test the computer with his account that he's never played The Finals on before, so Level 0. I got placed with people that I normally play against on my main account lol. Season 4 was alright tbh, the queuing wasn't that bad, but it seems like it got sweatier on Season 5 lol.

[@WhiteVipor]

I even tried making a new account just to see. First game of world tour I got two bronzes on my team against a full emerald team on a brand new account. It's rediculous. It's a fun game but this one issue alone is stopping me from playing

[@Chips__]

the problem with that is the low player count

[@sjw7345]

I have 400w (40% wr) and 6k kills, 1.4kd but i’ve always been silver (i play duo) and i keep matching and being slapped by emerald teams or smurfs. It’s basically unplayable to me Our solo teammate is also never comparable to those players we match

[@TitanRodeo]

100% agree! The matchmaking is such a huge issue. I'm bronze in World Tour going up against emeralds and diamonds, it's not fun at all. Now all I do is knock out my dailies and call it a day. Too many sweats in any game mode you play.

[@benladen2016]

They need to lean towards the solo queuers for atleast one season .As of rn this game is sort of a third party simulator and that respawn timer is definitely NOT for everyone.

[@fm9134]

The game setting has huge potential for marketing like Fortnite actually, you could collaborate with other franchises, add skins and all that to attract players. Season 3 was Japanese, damn, and all they added was a bad anime parody and a bad Gundam parody. Wasted potential! I know many don't like such collaborations with other brands, but turning The Finals into a powerful brand like Fortnite would be much more promising for the longevity of the project than its "identity" in the form of boring military skins or random slightly weirdo skins

[@chickenmcfly2133]

For new player I think it’s a bad idea that they have to grind pretty hard for the equipment they want to try.. feel like it should be way less grindy to unlock weapons and gadgets

[@dennisv1882]

I think new players should start out with meta loadouts and 3500 to 5000 vrs, so at least they aren't left with horrible builds the whole time and also can spend on whatever they find interesting, having to grind for defib explosive mine and Zipline was horrible

[@chickenmcfly2133]

@ yea that’s my number 1 complaint for me players honestly

[@electrollama2127]

The VR system is kind of a mess. It's progression for its own sake, no sense of achievement, just a chore.

[@humanbeans7952]

i just started playing this game 2 months ago and barely touched it until 2 weeks ago and have been hooked. The new player experience is tough, but wow what a game once you understand it

[@swarnavaghosh908]

Initial hours are tough but once you get the hang then it is fun . Most new player make one mistake that is rushing opponents like it is cod where you can team kill if you flank them

[@RazeDee]

Facts. Once you figure out the flow of the game and understand the gameplay you going for in terms picking out which weapon and gadgets and role you wanna play, it gets pretty damn fun and addicting.

[@DangleSan]

I understand it's hard for new players to get into the game I got in on season one so I've been around it for a minute, But I think the reason it's so hard for new players is CoD brain rot, I know that may sound ridiculous but the way I see it the finals gameplay loop is so different from what most people are used to in CoD an FPSs outside of hero shooters, I often hear or see God players in finals lobbies or videos complaining that the TTK is too high, It's really crazy to think that the game that first brought us real-time destructible environments that has super tight gun play is just being brushed aside by so many players

[@Oneball2]

In my honest opinion in playing the finals embarks is on the right track giving a XP boost to people who are in clubs or playing with other people Is a great feature. But I do feel like that multiplier needs to be increased as you stated and my experience, the grind is “tough” and I’m not saying it’s impossibly tough I’m saying it’s barely worth it… Advertisements like ads, KZbin sponsorships, and maybe commercials on TV is DEFINITELY on the list of things THEY need to do more of!

[@user-if9pp4vg7g]

Yeah I don't like being locked into grinding the BP I paid for. Sometimes I want to bugger off and play some other games but in the back of my mind I'm thinking "THE BATTLE PASS!" I wish they just stayed even when the season ended if you bought it at least. Its the new thing in gaming and all the bigger studios are starting to do it like helldivers 2(not a big studio big but still backed by Sony one of the most greedy companies) and Marvel Rivals. If the Chinese and Japanese are doing it, NA should get with the program. FOMO needs to go yesterday.

[@SILK97]

Was interested in the Finals since launch, but couldn’t play since I dont have a current gen console (and don’t play PC). It was a random Reddit comment that informed me that the Finals was available on PS4. Kinda odd that it was never advertised to be coming to last gen

[@austinnonr7908]

It wasn't on release, I no longer remember which season it was, but it was added after the fact since it had to be worked on more optimization wise to run on last gen.

[@TheTrueSavior]

2:21 IT WAS "BEST GAME YOU SUCK AT" LMAOOO

[@Al-aabir]

I always say: art will atract people who apreacate it. It may take a while, it may not. But eventually, this game will keep growing ONLY if they kept their great work they`re putting into The Finals. You can see passion in their work, and also i noticed that they`re so close to their community. If they kept that and also kept their kindness, giving players a lot of free stuff. And sell stuff with resonable prices and never ever being greedy. And ofcorse, kept balancing as usual. Not doing any of that is what kills a game in my opinion.

[@detroitmidunkin2138]

I play this game everyday. Matter of fact this the only game I play.

[@badfart7754]

I love how much every finals player loves this game so much to the point we are trying to do emarks job for them

[@Chad96-fj3gc]

I got a valorant ad at the beginning of this video😭

[@Nishelix]

Maybe a Netflix Series about Scotty as a former contestant

[@TAETHEGOAT-w6h]

That’s a great idea

[@thefirsttrillionaire2925]

@@TAETHEGOAT-w6hno it’s not 😂Who’s gonna watch it? Not a big enough fan base for this yet

[@KianFloppa]

because theyre not adding fsr 3 for amd and intel users

[@CalmZinCombo]

@KianFloppa you are one dedicated floppa

[@user-ne9sd4ow1o]

Embark pls 🙏

[@charleshawk6668]

That’s not why

[@Ron.Swanson.]

bro is a relentless retard

[@flamearoo7258]

I find the main problem (at least in oce) for new players is the the game thinks putting me (one of the better players in the tiny oce servers) with 2 new players against 3 mediocre players is fair. When I’m the only person with kills with a kd over 8 yet no chance to steal due to the new wave spawns, the new players are in lobbies way over their skill level and it makes me want to stop playing the game as well. I have not had a teammate from solo queue actually do substantially better than me since the start of season 4. The only way I’m not carrying is when I queue up with players that I find from discord. This environment promotes sweating and competitive gameplay as a 1v3v2 with wildly different skill levels causes better players to try their hardest and not have fun, causing even worse match ups. Honestly I believe matchmaking should group people of similar skill together to their best ability. I am fine waiting for longer queue times so both my teammates aren’t on their literal first match as the only controller players in the lobby. Even just having at least one player close to me on my team would make it bearable. Then again this is probably more of a problem in oce servers as player count is really low. But like 40% of the time both teammates are literal level 1s that don’t know the interact button with their mic off so I can’t even tell them how to do things.

[@Hollowdarling]

I have 1000 hours on the game, i'm emerald and almost ruby. So here is what i've noticed in the past 30 days of playing. Matchmaking is super problematic for solo que. Its not fun for new players and not fun for veterans. This is legit something that happened to me. I'm paired with two players in a party(who turn out to be bronze and silver respectively), during the whole match they kept essentially throwing the match/causing us to lose because they just want to rush in constantly without thinking or any strat. Me who knows how to play the game ends up super frustrated. I have two choices, get myself killed trying to res them, not viable because of where they died, or kill myself so we can team spawn and not waste tokens, again tho cause they dont understand the game they'll use their tokens right as I jump to unalive myself, so I end up having to make 3rd choice of just waiting an obnoxious amount of time to res them at the right moment or let them use tokens(using tokens handicaps you in the long run) which isn't a good option. So I end up having to strategize alone because I cannot rely on my team and they refuse to coordinate with me. I'm frustrated cause I can't play the game due to being alive alone all the time, and they can't play the game cause the are rushing in and getting killed by high ranks all the times. We all end up frustrated with eachother because they keep dying and they see me as not doing my part because i'm constantly left alive not trying to res them because they die right next to the enemy and cashout. And I can't unalive myself because they lack so much understanding and patience and use tokens. Its just not an overall fun experience for anyone. I end up somehow carrying us for 3 matches in a row to win grand finals by using demat strategically. They rack up obnoxious death counts in the double digits like 13 and 15 deaths every match somehow, because we're two meds and a light and have two defibs, while I only have 1 or 2 deaths a match. We won, but I can hear the players on their mics yelling "F THIS GAME, I'M UNINSTALLING" despite us winning because they didn't get to play much due to dying all the time, and I end up not happy at all despite winning because I had to sneak like a rat all 3 matches to demat and stealth steal the cashouts at last min. Again the bad matchmaking is the culprit for this experience. This game needs a better tutorial, A WAY BETTER TUTORIAL. This game isn't COD but everyone especially new keeps playing like its COD and just focus on getting kills and yell at you for not having enough kills so they think you're the reason they are losing, and its' just constant whining cause of this, which is frustrating for the high level player who knows what theyre doing. A tutorial that walks you through the importance of sticking together as a team, when to use gadgets(do you know how many times meds have turrents but fail to put them down all the time? Especially in firefights? Or dont pick them up to avoid them getting destroyed and they can strategically place them somewhere else? It feels like ALL the time they do this, wasting the turrents), why its important to focus on reviving more than killing, and to teach you to not focus on kills all the time but rather trying to strategically steal the cashout. They can do this via a voice over guiding you or through text that appears in the tutorial. Heck they can go as far as saying THIS ISNT COD, DO NOT PLAY IT LIKE ONE. Again because of the COD mentality every player especially new seems to want to play Light, so its teams of light, after light, after light, just rushing in and dying. They need to change the lobby system to avoid this. DBD lets you que up with a team before the match starts, that way if you see ppl pick classes without synergy, you can exit out before the match starts and you wont get penalized, but this game the match timers for it to start up starts running as soon as you get into a lobby with other players. You should be able to que up with players first, than when everyone hits ready, its ques up the match like usually and you can adjust your loadout like always. This would greatly help the with frustration of dealing with the constant lights on your team all the time. While also in a way punishing lights for always picking lights when they see ppl constantly leaving their lobby. You can use a team with 3 lights, but that should be something discussed during the initial team que up before the lobby que starts up. If you agree with it stick with it, if you dont' you have the option to leave. Solo que seriously needs a look at. Its just too much at times. No one new or veteran is having a good time most of the time.

[@bigrob029]

The "soft introduction" is a MUST. Maybe a beginners'/tutorial lobby on a small section of Monaco where new players can get the most reps in on mechanics before being cut loose to the public. (unpopular opinion: maybe some bot teams as fodder too?) I have been here since day 1 and I can't get any of my gamer friends to play The Finals because (A.) the marketing is so bad they've never heard of it or (B.) they DID try it but they don't want to give it another try because they immediately got rolled for 5 matches straight.

[@julio1148]

I havent played much this season because this was my most played game in 2024 and I have many games in my backlog that I want to go through lol I legitimately became addicted to it and have to take a break.

[@animosity4226]

In my opinion as a relatively new player (started playing like a week ago), I didn't even know this game existed until one of my friends was begging me to play it with him and I was like sure why not? I was immediately hooked into the game. I love the gameshow / esports aspect of it and love playing the game, and I would've played it a lot earlier if I knew it existed xdddd. In my opinion tho the main hook that got me into the game was the esports / gameshow aspect of it, it felt super immersive and really felt like I was playing on one during my first few games which really improved my experience. One complaint that I have tho, and still kinda have is that VRs feel super slow to get. I like to mix and match and experiment with different gadgets and strategies but it's super annoying how long it takes to get them. I have plenty of gadgets and guns and specializations now, but it was definitely kinda annoying having to grind vrs.

[@sSteppingStones]

The main thing that kept me in the game during S2 was ranked, but in S4 and 5 ranked has got way harder for solo, partly because top 500 get matched with gold players. It's too hard to get past plat without a team. Now i do placements in ranked and then only get on FINALS when streamers are doing custom games

[@christianaleman5903]

Idk, I’d say progression can be fixed if there was a prestige mode, and level xp was faster maybe, and you get meaningful rewards for prestiging

[@CalmZinCombo]

@@christianaleman5903 honestly a good idea, they could for sure do some cool cosmetics with that system

[@david_kingori]

I like this game coz it's not overly grindy. Adding too much will push some away and create even bigger skill gaps and matchmaking even worse

[@christianaleman5903]

@@david_kingoribut progression? That’s how cods progression is super addicting, prestige, it’s an incentive

[@minhbap4525]

Nooo, i just literally started to love this game 😢

[@Benu0919]

Chill, it might have a small playerbase but that playerbase is hardcore. Game won't die and hopefully with some adjustments to the stuff that was mentioned it will reach new heights! 😊

[@swarnavaghosh908]

Yeah it has 15000 playerbase who are addicted to this game in the sense that they play only finals and nothing else. I am average but I only play finals now and have 387 hours​@@Benu0919

[@fxdefiancy]

​@@Benu0919Praying for a player spike hopefully by S6, game is unplayable for casual. Too many Rubys and Diamonds getting matched against unranked players in world tour.

[@MauziDerPimp]

The game has no non-teambased mode, is casual unfriendly af, got two mid weapons and (as usual) only one map per season which quickly get‘s boring, is unbalanced since the very beginning, has zero promotion, trash servers, no real grind besides WT and the unplayable Ranked and also: Zero lore or character. Yes. That’s also a reason why ppl don’t stick to the game. It’s bland

[@masoq4702]

the new weapons are fine imo everything else i kinda agree with

[@TwoLapz]

As a solo player, I love playing against emerald players on a daily basis. I love it even more when they are playing with clan mates with coms and I get the pure pleasure of getting paired with a new player. Nothing like making Hercules like effort for a W in quick cash. That’s the stuff I keep coming back for. 🎉

[@WhiteVipor]

It's like every single freaking game, it's rediculous

[@fxdefiancy]

​@@WhiteViporI started in S3 and deleted it in S5, the game is so unbearably sweaty that I cant have fun anymore. Every match, no matter if its ranked, world tour, or even quick cash, is filled with Emerald, Diamond, and sometimes even RUBY players. The fact I can get paired up with a top 500 player in CASUAL pushed me to deleting this game. Maybe when it has a higher player count Ill come back, but right now this game is a dumpster fire.

[@eugunekrabs4782]

@@fxdefiancyso your trash

[@glytchie]

Fresh perspectives. Appreciate the constructive video. Long live the finals!

[@kenethernandez6246]

Got a friend to finally play the game with me. He was having a hard time with the lobbies we were getting. A level 5 going up against max level players with hundreds or over a thousand wins many times in parties while having most of the weapons/ equipment locked and trying to learn the game at the same time is not a fun experience. He stopped playing after a couple hours and I don't blame him. Even solo queuing is a rough experience with all the parties I often run into. The game doesn't have a balance between casual and competitive. Being competitive focused is fine but I haven't seen any competitive focused game blow up without a solid casual playerbase as well and that is missing in the finals. New players that try the game just quit when they see the lobbies they are placed in. Catering to a competitive audience is fine but if it's just that audience the game will never grow and will eventually die over time as the hardcore audience also moves on to newer competitive games. If the game stays the same it will shut down in the 3-4 years.

[@mineatomtr]

i think the grind on this game is great, what is not fine is the balancing choices being consistent with rainbow six siege where they chose to nerf everything instead of buffing, game is getting stale because of this

[@wemocapone2102]

The biggest issue is they punish new players for being new They punish experienced players by making meaningless updates and not balancing the game actively

[@Sloomoo]

The match making is pure pain, even for players that not new. Can't win any tournament for months with my friends.

[@knightx9405]

Things we can do in the finals map , the interaction is very VERY limited. It is true, great physics, great destruction, THAT ANY OTHER FPS CANNOT BEAT , BUT! It feels REPETITIVE! The scissor skins for throwing knives ?😂😂 what do you feel like when such funny weaponary comes ahead of you to fight?. Makes no sense, the game becomes instantly BORING! A knife that has a pencil skill, how about that?. Ugly AF right??? They have NO context, no idea the player base age, and all. Sad truth about finals. Was a huge fan until they messed up everything else. Sad. I expected this game to be like Ready Player One. WHICH CLEARLY ISNT.

[@Znxrlax.gaming]

as a content creator who makes finals content that's not related to end game issues , i really enjoyed this video and i agree for the most part

[@ItsGameTime-vc5ik]

The one thing i think the finals needs most is more maps

[@PW.6060]

I started playing in Season 2. It was pretty rough and the disaster that was Season 3 made it worse. However, by Season 4, I had improved quite a bit and the changes that came with Season 4 were very good. I thoroughly enjoyed it and still think The Finals peaked in Season 4. But Season 5, even as a pretty experienced player, has been pretty rough. I can't imagine any casual player coming to this game as it currently is and sticking around. If I were just starting out now, I would have given up after a couple weeks and gone back to playing BF1.

[@PW.6060]

Also, I think this is largely due to the matchmaking, but also to the playerbase being typically either incredibly sweaty or halfway retarded.

[@user-ne9sd4ow1o]

Ive been meaning to get BF1 for years. I gotta grab it on next sale. BF4 is still fun to go back to! Aged like fine wine

[@PW.6060]

@user-ne9sd4ow1o It's still pretty good. There are people still playing, though everyone just uses the same weapons. But still, it's fun and you can find lobbies if you set your filters right.

[@RPerez3D]

You’re right on the money with these critiques. I really wish that there was more progression on the leveling side. The only thing I can really think of is banners kinda like rocket league or player car backgrounds

[@Pro_MemeMaker]

What if we raise a GoFundMe to put an ad on KZbin that is just the season five trailer

[@JDMKEV]

you prob get a cease and desist for using their branding lol

[@jackaldave1698]

From marketing to really no weapon balancing patches after a few weeks into the season has me feeling burned out

[@user-if9pp4vg7g]

The weapons are as balanced as they can get. Its just frustrating at times because there's a ton of chaos and random crap happening at all times lol. That and lights are super annoying.

[@aks3778]

@@user-if9pp4vg7g if u think the lh1 and the invis is "balanced" rn then u might be wrong, Not saying there arent ways to counter it but the thing is it doesnt matter when a level 10 player hops into quck cash and gets beamed across the map with a player with 60k elims with lights utils. its not fun, its apex all over again

[@jackaldave1698]

@user-if9pp4vg7g the LH1 is not balanced at all right now ask any high elo player

[@fxdefiancy]

​@@user-if9pp4vg7gLH1 3 shotting a medium from 100+ meters away is balanced to you?

[@QuinnIsIn]

Cope ​@@user-if9pp4vg7g

[@mememeh7572]

The part about marketing is SO TRUE, like the game is literally about a SPECTACULAR SHOW and its world is full of advertisements from a lot of different sponsors..... IT SEEMS SO EASY TO PROMOTE YET WE HAVE NOTHING😭

[@vahvonvr]

I agree with everything but your cosmetics point. Embark has done a fantastic job balancing free cosmetics (introducing sponsorships/having progression that isnt just a battle pass in the first place). They have also made it clear they dont want to use FOMO as a way to make money, which is why they are willing to reintroduce skins from past seasons/events. They have the least predatory cosmetic system of any modern game. If we want to make the new player experience more meaningful, we need to get people to try the game and tell us what the issue is. Two days ago, I got my friend who loves FPS to try the Finals for the first time. He was thrilled by it (since he has fps experience, he wasnt stomped immediately) but when we got off the game, his only complaint was that he was overstimulated and just needed a break, despite enjoying the game. Personally, I've noticed casual gamemodes (like power shift and bank it) becoming more and more tryhardish recently. For new players, we should absolutely provide protections like a newcomer playlist (which is how R6S prevents new players getting stomped) or tutorial that isn't just "play the game for 5 rounds of quick cash"

[@willx6394]

Be nice to the new players guys. Ive always played with mic off because of the toxic experiences i had while learning...

[@shift_del3te249]

Matchmaking would be fixed if embark got better marketing. So the odds of getting insane ruby sweats is way lower.

[@firstnamelastname7244]

Just commenting to voice my support for the game. I think this game is awesome and I'd love to see it continue to grow and improve. Here's hoping that Embark takes our feedback and puts it to use.

[@Get2TheFinals]

"I sure hope I don't end up in a youtube video"

[@CalmZinCombo]

@@Get2TheFinals lol

[@Marcello-q6n]

happened to me. i got called a goober. 10/10 though, i looked good in the video because my embarrassing moments somehow evaded the video.

[@veertype]

I’d like an in game, text to speech AI, coach that provides some encouragement and help to new players. Telling players basics as they browse equipment. Telling them good practices like warming up on quick play before you jump into ranked play. Giving aiming instruction or aiming drills to do in the practice area.

[@wifiwebtorso6405]

Hey I just wanted to say I really agreed with your points and I have also been thinking about these points for a really long time, especially I feel like if your honestly not really into battle passes or cosmetics, I feel like I’m just playing for fun atp. Like I’m just queueing for matches and there’s no end goal I’m working towards, I would genuinely love if there was more to work for a grind in this game, like it would be cool if there was an in game currency or something in game where you can get more currency over time and you can unlock camos, skins, emotes, like I wish there was more stuff to do.. cause atp I feel like I’m just playing matches to play matches and like at a certain point it’s just not going to last forever and doesn’t feel sustainable for me. I wish there was more to work towards I feel like if they had currency or something in game that would keep me playing and motivated to keep playing the matches

[@ManeuverMaster-b1j]

Fellow Finals player here with a few vids.the game needs a few more attachments. I dont want it to be cod esque with too many but it can use more. Also, a TDM mode.

[@HyperboreanPC]

New player playlist with bans for people trying to smurf would probably help a lot

[@Doomed-to-lose]

You hit the nail on the head here!! Very good video!!! Nice clips too!!😎

[@pewienkrisus]

Thanks for that video bro, ima living sub here

[@nonr.2347]

2:14 They actually didn't announce anything at the game awards, the trailer released a few days before TGA. The trailer that released at the actual game awards (of 2023) was Season 1's trailer. The Finals was nominated for two D.I.C.E. Awards in 2024 as '"Online Game of The Year" and "Outstanding Technical Achievement", which mind you, are known between the devs as the more "serious" event compared to TGA

[@divisionpally8671]

Instead of those numbers for the career levels put multibucks in those levels and not just a small amount of multibucks

[@r3versse]

Hi Combo, the video you've made is a great one - I love this game a lot, and I have slowly begun to understand why people are leaving the game and why the player retention is low. Two main factors I think are Unbalanced matchmaking & Infestation of lights. Most of my friends left after being stomped by Emeralds in World Tour. The game is not in a casual friendly state right now unfortunately. I've stuck with the game so I now understand how to play versus lights but for new players, believe me when I say that it is hell. When players with 20k kills just come and destroy these new players I would want to leave as well. I don't really know what can fix this, but I hope Embark devs can strike the correct balance and help the game grow again.

[@inzadaan]

the problems imo is they havent developed the game esport scene, even tho the game is so e-sport-ish

[@happyman697]

Honestly funny seeing all these videos pop up lately about the finals problems and what people have been wanting fixed, because i got nothing but HATE when giving feedback and now they're videos popping up like crazy about EVERYTHING ive been discussing

[@schm3ez]

Damn this is a great video man, and you make a lot of great points! I’ve mentioned the career level grind, accolades, time investment, WT/Ranked grind for those that want skins, I love the finals SO MUCH, but these are the facts.

[@commenter621]

Sponsorship doesnt take too long what are u yapping

[@heypistolero]

"Communications major" Oh boy. I'll bite my tongue because I enjoyed the video🤣

[@delx5751]

I personally agree with Arddrake's point the most coming from the perspective of someone who spent 300-400 hours on the game. If Server performance, input consistency, and overall performance consistency of the game had a considerable amount of time dedicated to improving them, the game would be way more appealing and have a higher retention. Your number of hours won't stop you from feeling the game-side problems whether it be hit reg, occasional server lag, micro stutters/rubber banding, inputs not registering because of the tick rate of the servers, and crashing. These issues, as pointed out in Arddrake's video, build up when combined together to sometimes create a frustrating time out of a game you love. I temporarily quit December 2024 because I wasn't able to keep dealing with crashing in WT/ranked. I only crashed once or twice a day but those crashes being in the final round of match/middle of the tournament took me out. I only came back once I saw how many other people still queue despite the crashes. Maybe a new found comfort in a struggle we all deal with brought me back.

[@delx5751]

He made a point about how Valorant dedicated a huge update to improving performance of the game and that was life changing for the player's/game itself. Also I never had any crashes on this game until the start of season 5.

[@encozine]

9:09 dying in the exact same place second time. What you said was straight on the point, man. I hope you can be heard, thought I'm sure devs are too busy with Arc Raiders

[@logansteadman]

I feel like something fun would be like a creative mode that could be shared with the community. Imagine a grappling or dash race! Imagine a heavy Hammer and Hook mode! Or, what about custom Cashout maps made by teams in the community? It would be so cool to see the creativity of The Finals community!!

[@logansteadman]

Plus, to add on to my statement, I feel that this would make the casual experience WAY better as of now. No more sweats, just people trying to play soccer (kind of like lucio ball lol). I have a bunch of cool little ideas, just feel free to ask me and I'll happily explain!

[@ExpertMonsterHunter]

I was searching for modern shooter with destruction, and found it on the top 10 video, about a year age. Since then I playing this game constantly. As a new player my experience was great

[@brajuhani]

Here is a suggestion. All weapons are unlocked from start. You unlock new gadget after playing one or two games with that class, so you get drip feeded them, and can try things slowly, and it encourages you to go for another game, and try different classes early on.

[@bonkchonk7416]

i think a cool addition would be loadout based challenges with cosmetic rewards. it could encourage players to try different playstyles and loadouts whilst being rewarded for doing so

[@electrollama2127]

I think you're describing the current system. Contracts cover a wide variety of equipment and weapons, and the cosmetic you unlock is for another specific weapon. I'd kinda like the opposite, a set of contracts for a type of build, then a cosmetic relating to that build. There are certain builds I just don't enjoy playing, so I stopped even attempting the contracts.

[@bonkchonk7416]

@ sorry about my very vague description (lazy writing) i kinda meant the same thing you’re talking about the build related contracts and rewards. and i really just want more free cosmetics for challenges like the sponsor take over in world tour maybe give us a redeemable token for every completed contract week so we can choose which weapons/gadgets we get the sponsor skins for or at least the class like i mainly play light so what am i gonna do with a Dissun spear for example. and i want more than just prestige skins for leveling up a weapon similar to how some specialisations grants you voice lines, weapon charms and stickers. maybe something to wear on your character for reaching a certain goal for example: getting 300 kills with the compound bow grants you a quiver to put on your back and maybe a badge to put on your player card. speaking of player cards i would like to have individual cards for each character you create. sorry for yapping a lot btw😅

[@merp7174]

I found out about the finals bc of JFJ, he LOVES this game. Probably streaming it right now as i speak. I would love to play the finals and it looks fun as hell, but the problem is I'm not great at playing online competitive shooters. Unless its a game like helldivers thats a PvE, I can't. I struggle to play with mouse and keyboard and I'm just not skilled enough to hold my ground in matches. I'm no nerd when it comes to stats to know which builds I like from lights, mediums, heavies, or weapons. I also got a bad case of FOMO and with the amazing cosmetics in the finals.... omg. What I love about helldivers 2 is there is no time limit and rewards from events gets unlocked to ALL players, even those that missed out. They know there players have busy lives and jobs and won't punish them for that. The most I can do is watch JFJ enjoy the hell out of the finals.

[@abiolaolayinka2023]

My new player experience was actually pretty fun, I kept getting matched up with super sweaty elites who'd carry me and show me the ropes. Eventually I hit a wall and had to find my way with the more frequent bad matching, but it's improved slightly this season to be honest.

[@commenter621]

You made me download marvel rivals

[@KKMechanical]

I’m a new player and loving it!! I’ve been going crazy. I’m level 21 and My k/d is positive and had multiple 20+ kill games. It does get frustrating sometimes but as a new player that is oblivious to all of this I’m liking it

[@tntcraze8157]

3 things. The servers are bad The ranked experience is trash The bugs are something... to say the least.

[@creationfied]

they should add mastery skins like in cod

[@Trojance]

Have you even played the game?

[@Heartmyasu]

A simple but effective method to keep newer players is to have some form of unranked deathmatch, team deathmatch so that they could just play around with perks and goof off to some degree. I think the problem with these new f2p games is that you always gotta commit to it. If you wanna get them to commit, you have to let them have a place to experiment and goof off in.

[@7777967ful]

Sorry for Google Translate. There is a problem with advertising, I only found out about the game when I was looking for videos of games with destructibility. There is a problem with the difficulty of the game for beginners, but I started to learn the game in the "power shift" mode. It happened by accident, but now I understand that I started correctly, since the mode is casual, quick respawn, something is constantly happening, there is no penalty for losing for the whole team (in "world tour" the penalty is the time during which the allies expected to get a "win point", but did not). It seems to me that if beginners are banned from wt, rating and leave only casual modes until they have at least 20 battles, then new and old players will be less disappointed with the game, and they will also learn where they can improve their game skills.

[@navalsmusic]

The thing for me is just marketing. Marketing drives customers, customers drives sales, sales drives budget for improvement The Sponsor pass is super easy to farm if you grind World Tour. I finished it in like 2-3 weeks 😊

[@Blackhoodie85]

"stay home, stay safe" Does Combo know something we don't? 😮

[@tuncdincsahin8776]

About rewards it is very simple, each successfull match will give you +10 or so credits that you can spend in the store (Which will result in heavy grinding), so people get awarded better for winning, if they are worried about people getting access easily and not spending money, they can do it category based and Common - Uncommon - Rare stuff are the only ones that can be purchased by these credits but if they see an item that is fit to only be purchased by real money, they can set it to Legendary or only ''Real Money Buy'' type of situation for to lock access to get.

[@CharlesChamberlain-rb5ze]

embark could always switch to a non expiring battle pass system, where the battle pass doesn't end forever after a season, rather it closes. and you have the choice between the new ones. if you chose one that you almost finished, and you do finish it, then you could choose another. this would allow new players to access old content, and would be anther thing for players to spend money on. it would also make use of old content, as embark is seemingly running out of things to give us (I'm looking at you level 71-100). Embark needs to make a larger distinction between ranked and wt. wt use to be the casual mode but embark added a bunch of new ranks between gold and emerald, and still hasn't fixed the isolation issue between the two game modes. I shouldn't have the choice between two different forms of ranked, each with their own reward pool. other creators have pointed this problem out and I'm sure embark is working on it, we just haven't been told anything yet.

[@Wavyintelguy]

Great vid, but I noticed you kept meleeing to cancel the charge with the dagger, but you can just press R2 to cancel.

[@user-ne9sd4ow1o]

The only time The Finals feels alive and healthy is when a new season drops.. Feels great for a week or 2, but then you gotta wait 2-3 months for more content. 💀 Mid season updates literally dont exist. "Live service" means constant updates and content. Weekly skins dont make the game BETTER

[@MetalHev]

Lmao, I don't even play The Finals (played a little bit on release only), and I was just thinking "I never heard from this game ever again, I don't think they market enough" before seeing the first point. For us non-players it really feels like the game just stopped being a thing, I legit just remembered it existed because I saw your video being recommended.

[@RyanBroseph]

No casual modes or casual player support. Power shift is still missing maps all the way back to Las Vegas. Patches are balanced around the “hardcore” player. Weapons are balanced to appease the hardcore players, or need lots of skill to be viable in matches. Once battle passes are purchased, they should not expire or have a time limit. Give the player base the option to buy previous battle passes.

[@kai5698]

marketing is a big thing for me. everytime I stream it to my friends they always say that they thought the game died

[@unnamedloser8874]

I'd like to say as someone with 200-300 hrs in the finals all of these are valid points. I won't deny the fact I've spent a decent bit on the finals but the game genuinely feels like if you want to get the full experience then you have to spend money. Think about the contestant system yes its really cool and well put together however (for me at least) it felt like with everything they give to the community there's no way to build a outfit that is yours unless you spend at least $20. I'm glad i watched this video it was well put together and covered a lot of good points i wish he had spoken about each subject for a little bit longer but he definitely got a new sub.

[@Mxxntain.]

I’ve gotten a couple of my friends to play the finals back in season 3 and they gave up on it nearly instantly. Seeing new players in the finals is good, especially for my oce region that has to designate times as community to play wt so we have enough players. But in saying that having a fresh install on my team against a 3 stack is never fun. I wish this game the best because it is genuinely so fun. But there are still so many prevalent issues

[@zackerygarcia3332]

Im gonna be honest i stopped playing the finals like 8 weeks ago, i only watch your videos to support your channel. lol I started playing season 3, but after heavy class got Nerf after Nerf after Nerf. As a melee main, i just can't have fun playing anymore with ANY melee weapon. In low elo, im sure they are oppressive, but im not low elo and they become completely useless. I could type you a 5 page essay on my perspective and thoughts but i know no one wants to hear it. Keep up the good work bro bro!

[@kingplayz5726]

Hi I am a new player and I agree with you the matching make system is not great I feel I always get in matches with player with like 12 to 13k and the marketing is so bad, I only found the game becouse I was scrolling on steam for games but I still love the game as new player I play with my boys and that take a part of why I like it so much but the game is just good and the cosmize ability is great! Also how do I get muli bucks for free?

[@electrollama2127]

I would say matchmaking has improved a lot, including the transparency in Ranked. Unfortunately it's come a bit late, whereas now it's limited by player count and the aim hacking problem.

[@jaycoors7292]

I don't know, I feel we just have some slow traction. If you haven't noticed, on the web page to view the 50 series gpus, nvidia shows the finals for reflex latency

[@DrFrost04]

One thing they can do for skins is add different mastery camos or even camo challenges outside of the level camos

[@Hazenviell]

Ok, so my idea was hyped in the discussions place in Steam for a while. My idea was : You got 5000 VR's and you got all the new stuff from the season ( new guns, gadgets, etc ) . So, this currency is just laying on your account till the next season ( I bought all the new stuff like in 2 days since new season, so basically this is not working well, coz most of the time it's just doing nothing literally) . What if we could exchange 5000 VRs on like 20-50 multybucks. This will help a lot, but I got the devs worries, you can do this exchange only 3-4 times per season. This way, you are getting rewarded for playing the game , but also it's not like killing the selling point. Ofc, some smart guy in the devs team can manage better numbers than I am ( all the strategy when you don't have like 5 multybucks to buy a skin so you buying it for a money , you got the point ), but the idea in my opinion is great, kinda encourage players to grind for a skin in the shop, not some skin on a gun you don't play with from the events or smth . Peace ✌🏻

[@mckit97]

The grind for vr to unlock gear is ridiculous for new guys too

[@IBimbsEinzMensch]

your making good points, hope the devs see this

[@oliverwhelan2478]

I've just started playing The Finals and I stumbled across it on the PlayStation store. I'd never heard of it before but now I'm playing I know just how good it is.