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[Draugoth]

In December, Embark Studios shadowdropped The Finals, a high-octane, destructive first-person shooter with some hero elements worked in. It pulled in a substantial audience overnight, reaching a peak player count of a quarter of a million users on Steam alone. This free-to-play shooter was regarded as a ‘major franchise pillar’ for Nexon, the game’s publisher and great expectations rose following a successful launch window.

However, in the most recent financial update from Nexon, it was confirmed numerous times that The Finals isn’t hitting expected targets and that work is underway to find out why that is.

Not Hitting The Mark​

In the financial letter published recently by Nexon, it was revealed:

The launch of Season 2 in March created a short-lived increase in player metrics but delivered lower-than-expected retention and revenue. The Embark team is working with our Korea-based Live Operations team to understand and address the key issues.

Elsewhere, Nexon admitted that the solid results of other titles in its portfolio were ‘partially offset’ by The Finals’ shortfall. Ultimately, The Final’s failure to deliver on expectations meant that the publisher reported lower revenue than it was originally targeting, despite reporting growth in MapleStory and rampant success from DAVE THE DIVER.

 

[Aenima]

The cannibalization of GAAS. Only very few GAAS games will survive while most of them are going to be eaten.

 

[cireza]

Guess they won't make it to the finals.

 

[Trogdor1123]

essentially everything but helldivers is underperforming now days.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

 

[Guilty_AI]

Men_in_Boxes in shambles

 

[Unknown Soldier]

There's like 50 identical games in this market space now and realistically only room for 1 or 2

 

[hyperbertha]

Good. Get rid of it

 

[kikkis]

Oh look, game from anthems executive fails yet again.

 

[N30RYU]

What were their expected revenue so we all can laught?

What they target to make THAT kind of game at the start of production... and is that target accurate at the end of development?

An idea cool now... will have 4 to 5 more games like it when they got to release it.

 

[nikos]

That's a shame because the game is actually fun.

 

[channie]

Great game to be honest, the shooting mechanics are top notch, and the real time destruction a game changer - I wish I had more free time to play again. Too bad it's not performing like it should. I heard rampant cheating affected it, but I don't know if it's been addressed since.

 

[DonF]

Its a great f2p game. But I can see it failing cause of the match making. Its no fun to run solo queue vs premade squads. Every time I get into a match with players that have good comms, I get steamrolled.

As such, I don't want to play much of it or spend any money. The game has awesome cosmetics, but that's about it in regards to monetization.

I hardly get to show those cosmetics off.

I think nexxon has to let the game gather more momentum for a bit, and the studio to balance the game and make changes to matchmaking.

Also, kinda get rid of the meta narrative. I'm so tired of games with strange convoluted lorez that's drip feed. Stop it. Counter strike has 0 lore and it's one of the biggest games out there.

 

[Audiophile]

Nothing short of ultra-successful is good enough.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

The Embark team is working with our Korea-based Live Operations team to understand and address the key issues.

Can’t wait for 20 reports that the Korean branch will produce pretending to be busy.

 

[diffusionx]

Here is Men_in_Boxes responding to me in February when I said you can't judge gaashit F2P games based on a week or two of sales, when I called it "The Forgotten"

The Finals is averaging 38k concurrent players on Steam over the last 30 days. It's more popular than Sea of Thieves on XBox right now. I suspect it's already viewed as a success by Nexon.

OH NO NO NO NO NO HAHAHAHAHA

 

[Sleepwalker]

Men in boxers goty 2023

 

[Setsuna Mudou]

Guess they won't make it to the finals.

fixed it for you, you're welcome

 

[TintoConCasera]

growth in MapleStory

That thing is still going? Damn.

essentially everything but helldivers is underperforming now days.

Not really, some japanese companies like Bandai, Capcom or Konami have reported nice profits. It's just that as some have said, there's very little space for Gaas games since they have to compete between each other at all times.

Meanwhile you make a singleplayer game, it sells a fuckton and players are able to focus on the next one the week after.

 

[Alpha Male]

Guess they won't make it to the finals.

 

[MDSLKTR]

Here is Men_in_Boxes responding to me in February when I said you can't judge gaashit F2P games based on a week or two of sales, when I called it "The Forgotten"



OH NO NO NO NO NO HAHAHAHAHA

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Gunplay sucks, so this isn't surprising.

 

[Bridges]

It's the best F2P shooter in a long long looong time. Extremely unique and fun. It's really a shame to hear it's not doing well but as others have said there's just too much competition in the GaaS space now.

Even as someone who loves it I sometimes go months at a time without playing since I'd rather try new games than dedicate my life to the daily grind of a GaaS.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

GAAS feels like the new MMO type genre where a bunch of games come out and none are even close to beating WoW. I know it's a different kind of concept, it just reminds me of those days.

 

[March Climber]

Its a great f2p game. But I can see it failing cause of the match making. Its no fun to run solo queue vs premade squads.

This is what keeps me away from most modern PvP games. I don’t want forced teams, especially in the modes they currently have. It’s just Apex-lite. I just want fun modes like FFA deathmatch and Gun game. Crazy King and multi-flag CTF are fun too but only Halo was known to offer modes like that after 2010.

 

[Aenima]

GAAS feels like the new MMO type genre where a bunch of games come out and none are even close to beating WoW. I know it's a different kind of concept, it just reminds me of those days.

Its the exact same kind of concept. Its games designed to keep you engaged with them as much as possible. Reason why they cannibalize eachother and why most are doomed to fail or meet expectations.

 

[Rockman33]

Bummer, really good game. Feels quite unique and different compared to the other shooters on the market.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

Controls are pretty shit on console. I'm sure that hasn't helped.

 

[tmlDan]

it feels good to be right, everyone said i was full of it

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

When a teacher sees his class all making the same mistake, it doesn't discourage him, it energizes him. Now let's go over some basic fundamentals...

Nexon Earnings Report from 3 months ago: "The Finals has exceeded our expectations."

(expectations revised)

Nexon Earning Report from today:
"The Finals has not met our expectations."

Now notice a few things...

1. The GAAS doom and gloomers were silent after the earnings call from 3 months ago for obvious reasons.

2. Nexon says they expect growth from Season 3 which is less than a month away.

3. The Finals was made by a team of 75 people. Rare was over 200 employees in 2020, when Sea of Thieves turned into their most successful game in history. Now go look at Sea of Thieves concurrent player history and compare it to The Finals.

4. No one thought The Finals was going to be a runaway success. It's an old style (sports) multiplayer game that started development before the Battle Royale revolution.

5. Nexon is a GAAS exclusive company who's growth has skyrocketed over the last 15 years because they specialize in the right types of games.

It's sad how the tribal brain globs on to selective evidence. You must wash yourselves of this identity.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I played 2 hours... is shit.

also obligatory:

Men_In_Boxes is in shambles

 

[TintoConCasera]

When a teacher sees his class all making the same mistake, it doesn't discourage him, it energizes him.

 

[Loomy]

This is an objectively good mp shooter. The main problem is for the longest time they only had the same 2 game modes, with slight variations in tournaments, for example. The game also launched with some balancing issues that they've failed to address.

Gameplay, presentation, concept are all solid. They need to give people a reason to play this over every other GaaS shooter out there though.

 

[Robb]

 

[Kenneth Haight]

When a teacher sees his class all making the same mistake, it doesn't discourage him, it energizes him. Now let's go over some basic fundamentals...

Nexon Earnings Report from 3 months ago: "The Finals has exceeded our expectations."

(expectations revised)

Nexon Earning Report from today:
"The Finals has not met our expectations."

Now notice a few things...

1. The GAAS doom and gloomers were silent after the earnings call from 3 months ago for obvious reasons.

2. Nexon says they expect growth from Season 3 which is less than a month away.

3. The Finals was made by a team of 75 people. Rare was over 200 employees in 2020, when Sea of Thieves turned into their most successful game in history. Now go look at Sea of Thieves concurrent player history and compare it to The Finals.

4. No one thought The Finals was going to be a runaway success. It's an old style (sports) multiplayer game that started development before the Battle Royale revolution.

5. Nexon is a GAAS exclusive company who's growth has skyrocketed over the last 15 years because they specialize in the right types of games.

It's sad how the tribal brain globs on to selective evidence. You must wash yourselves of this identity.

 

[Xtib81]

Real shame because it's a real breath of fresh air. This game is like nothing else on the market. I personally love it but it's quite competitive and has a high learning curve which can be frustrating for a lot of players.

 

[Holammer]

I hated the visuals with a red hot passion and the gameplay did not interest me either.
Designers think they're so clever when they make body type A & B basically the same, you sure showed the chuds! Even Riot Games knows the chara design needs a pinch of sexy.

 

[PixelatedBeast]

I would play the game if it had more than 2-3 maps and 2 game modes. Its like the devs looked at Battlefield Hardline and made just one of its game modes into a live service game. I know there may be some crossover from the devs that worked on both IPs, but still. Theres not enough variety to pull me away from other games, despite the gameplay and destruction being fun.

 

[A.Romero]

The game is good and I kind of remember there was a lot of hype because they are basically former Dice deveolpers that left after BFV.

Just some more evidence that the game being good and not predatory (it's a GaaS but I haven't felt the need to spend any money) is not enough. I guess it could be used as a reference of how evil publishers are not necessarily the cause of games not performing well.

 

[Wildebeest]

People were saying that this game was awesome when it came out, and that it even perfected some things. But it just goes to show what I've said before. If you release even a great game in these MP genres, the most likely outcome is that people will try it out for a few weeks and then go back to their "main" game, the same one that everyone has been playing for 5 to 10 years.

 

[Thabass]

I don’t think I am the general everyday person to talk about this, but one of the reasons why I don’t play those types of games is that…I’m just tired of them. First Person Shooters in particuilar. I’m just kinda over FPS games in general. First person view point and GaaS notwithdstanding, I just think that shooter games aren’t it for me. My game choices are more actiony or RPG games nowadays and have been for a few years now. Admittedly, I wish the industry would focus less on the GaaS, but I know that’s not something that will be easily done in the grand scheme of things. It’s just hard to get away from the model that has had some success, even if the success lately has been waning.

 

[LostDonkey]

Maybe don't have unrealistic expectations for shit then.

Underperforming my ass. It's performing exactly how it deserves to. Shit.

 

[Black_Stride]

I am so disappoint they decided to delay Arc Raiders for this game.
Granted I still think The Finals is a good game, but I think Arc Raiders should have launched first.
I was craving a Helldivers 2 game before knowing what Helldivers 2 was......and Arc Raiders looked like the answer.

Then they changed the whole damn genre of the game.......dont follow trends, youll always show up too late.
Should have just released the co-op PvE game and we would have been sorted.

 

[Mossybrew]

Another flash in the pan multiplayer game that people check out for a week then move on because there's just so many other games in this space. Better games than this one.

It's been touched on already but one thing that killed my interest and I think a lot of players that want a fun drop-in multi game, you simply have to coordinate with your team. You need to be on mic and if you're just a solo queue for some fun you're gonna get wrecked by a coordinated team. I realized this after like five matches and knew it wasn't going to be a game for me.

Destructability is great but that can't carry a whole game. Art style is bland. Progression seemed very slow, it was clear you'd have to dedicate a good deal of time to the game to earn rewards. Long TTK not to my taste. All adds up to a big no thanks.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I would play the game if it had more than 2-3 maps and 2 game modes.

It has 5 maps. Likely a 6th map in a few weeks.

In terms of the game modes...I think it's like Madden or Rocket League. They had such a specific sports like vision for the game it may be hard to morph that into effective new modes.

They need to incentivize teamplay as much as possible because that's where the game really shines.

 

[Nydius]

GaaS games continue to repeat the history of late 2000/early 2010's MMOs.

Every time one of the self-proclaimed "WoW Killer" MMOs launched, they'd see a massive surge of subscribers for a month as WoW players sought out the new hotness. One they realized the games weren't much better, they abandoned them and went right back to the game they had invested huge chunks of time and money into. Then those MMOs were left trying to carve out a path forward. Some went to F2P and were successful, many went to F2P and crashed, and some just folded entirely.

GaaS inevitably follows the same trends since MMOs were GaaS precursors.

 

[Toons]

The cannibalization of GAAS. Only very few GAAS games will survive while most of them are going to be eaten.

I mean is any game successful anymore? Seems 1 out of every 20 games does numbers these days.

Either the expectations are too high snd the understanding of the market isn't there or people just aren't gaming. And we know that second one isn't happening.

 

[Loomy]

I would play the game if it had more than 2-3 maps and 2 game modes. Its like the devs looked at Battlefield Hardline and made just one of its game modes into a live service game. I know there may be some crossover from the devs that worked on both IPs, but still. Theres not enough variety to pull me away from other games, despite the gameplay and destruction being fun.

I think the limited maps and game modes make sense when you realize what kinds of resources they were working with, but you're right. It needs to do something to pull people towards it.

The other issue is people don't like sucking at games. You have people who have played Valorant, Apex, or Warzone for the last few years and have gotten good enough to be competitive and they don't want to go to a different game with different mechanics to go suck there for a few weeks/months.

They moment they get rolled by a team, they'll shut the game down and go do the easy thing.

Not their fault, if I'm spending money and time on something I want to enjoy it and no one enjoys getting destroyed.

It's partly why Helldivers is catching on. PvE is a lot more accessible. Which is why people are disappointed Arc Raiders got delayed. Seeing how well Helldivers 2 is doing, I wouldn't be surprised if Nexon is pumping resources in that project right now.

 

[Dry_Kill_Logic_87]

loved the game, played the game every day, went for the platinum but stupid teammates and losing in the last seconds drive me nuts. every game lasts like 10min.
you need 150 wins with every class. f*cking idiot whoever came with that trophy

same with Battlefield 2024 and that Hazard Zone. only trophy I need but didn't touch the game since last year

 

[PixelatedBeast]

It has 5 maps. Likely a 6th map in a few weeks.

In terms of the game modes...I think it's like Madden or Rocket League. They had such a specific sports like vision for the game it may be hard to morph that into effective new modes.

They need to incentivize teamplay as much as possible because that's where the game really shines.

Last time I played, which was a probably few months ago, I only saw 2 maps. So I guess they must have added more since then. Another thing that bugged me was the repawn timer. I remember being frustrated with how long it takes to get back into the game because I almost never got revived by a team mate. Its a competitive squad based shooter with casual gaming elements that doesnt quite stick the landing.

Compteting against other squads who have more access to guns and gadgets because they put more time in the game is detrimental to the longevity of the game from attracting new players. The reason why games like Apex Legends are successful is because all players have access to the same weapons when they compete day 1, with the major difference being the character they selecct. The time you put in Apex Legends only affects your comfort with movement mechanics and knowledge of the maps. The Finals suffers because new players have to grind to unlock weapons and gadgets just to compete. This is where the casual and competitive aspect of the Finals clash. Not being able to change your weapon mid match or modify it based on the dyanmics of the game was an oversight.