The cadence of The Finals’ updates has players like myself expecting a fresh arena when each season drops. Embark Studios flips the script with Season 6, choosing to focus on a familiar locale from the shooter’s launch: Las Vegas. While the decision to withhold a new map might be frustrating, returning to the Vegas strip is part of a plan to take The Finals to new heights, as Embark Studios shares its design ethos with me.
While The Finals Season 6 doesn’t feature an original arena to do battle within, Embark Studios is keen to implement vital feedback gathered from FPS game players like you and me. I asked the studio about this decision, and a representative from Embark Studios told me that “updating our existing maps helps us keep the game evolving and allows us to smooth out challenges and pain points to improve on our designs to create fun, seasonal themes.” The redesigned version of Las Vegas leans into the sportier aesthetic of previous The Finals maps like Fortune Stadium, adorning every facet of it with in-game sponsors.
Sight lines, pathways, and traversal benefit from tweaks, making interior firefights easier to manage and maneuvering to Cash Out stations quicker. Getting to this stage isn’t simple, though, even with plenty of player opinions to factor in. To get to this point in The Finals’ update cycle, Embark Studios expresses that “the plan has always been to revisit older maps to improve them based on the community feedback, feedback we can’t get until the maps are live.” The developer adds that it hopes to “spend more time keeping every arena polished, balanced, and exciting.”
I’d personally like to see Kyoto given the same treatment. Although I appreciate the verticality and lush aesthetic of the map, it just doesn’t quite flow the same way Monaco or Skyway Stadium does. Could we see Embark Studios introduce The Finals’ next map in a midseason update? It’s not completely off the table: “Maybe! In truth, we don’t want to speculate on what might be coming throughout the season at this point, but the players can expect more arenas, both realistic and arena-style, in the seasons to come.”
When Season 6’s midseason update does arrive, it’ll be because the studio has something worthwhile to offer. “The midseason update should be something that feels special and fun and that also comes with a noticeable balance pass. We won’t be able to reveal the specifics for the midseason update of Season 6 just yet, but anything from limited-time game modes to wheels of fortune can happen,” Embark Studios details. The Finals isn’t dying, either, despite what you may be hearing.
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