Embark on The Finals Interview – How This Contestant Became a Finalist
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Embark Studios released The Finals in Dcember 2023 as a free-to-play shooter that had a game show premise. It didn’t take itself too seriously, and instead of opting for a military shooter vibe, instead chose to make the game colorful, loud and a wee bit chaotic.
Whatever Embark is doing seems to have worked. Here we are in the game’s second year, and it’s still thriving, which is something hard to do in the crowded F2P live-service gaming scene.
How did The Finals work? What magic formula did Embark use? If you’re curious, we are too, and those are some of the questions we asked the studio in our exclusive interview.
The Finals Q&A With MP1st on the Game’s Future and More
Answering the questions is an Embark representative.
MP1st: I’m sure, like the team there, we can’t believe it’s been a full year already since The Final was released. Looking back at the year, what do you think the team is most proud of with The Finals? What’s the biggest accomplishment you feel you’ve achieved?
Embark: Oh, absolutely, the last year has passed by at lightning speed. The year has somehow been both 5 years, and 5 weeks long at the same time! For me, the thing I am the most proud of has to be how incredibly dedicated our talented, relentless and creative game team has been over not only the past year, but throughout the entire development of THE FINALS. Our team consists of absolute superstars.
MP1st: Being free-to-play has proven to be a pretty risky business as of late. In the past months alone, we’ve seen major titles like Concord and XDefiant release, only to be shut down almost immediately. It’s hard to gauge interest in a game, but was there ever a time between launch and now when the team might have been worried about going through that same fate? What helped get them through it, or, if not, how does the team think they managed to avoid it?
Embark: There are absolutely challenges that come with being a live service game, and the market is rough. With that said, we have lasted over a year, with a very stable supporting community and for us we’ve never thought of any other possibility than to continue pushing forward with THE FINALS!
MP1st: Would you say the first year is the biggest challenge to get through for a live service? And now that we are past it, where do you see the game in the next 3-5 years?
Embark: I think every year likely comes with its own unique challenges. The first year had some for sure, transitioning the team from working on a game “behind closed doors” to one where our work is constantly being validated week by week by our greatest critics (and fans) is very different! At the same time, it’s also the most rewarding part of what we do. In the next 3-5 years I see us still being here, many seasons deep, with more players than ever and a version of THE FINALS that just gets better and better.
MP1st: What’s the “secret” to your success that you feel others can learn from?
Embark: First off, thank you for the kind words! I don’t know if there is a “secret” to what we’ve done that’s resulted in us being here today. But something we have done, and continue to do, is being very active in our community! From the first gameplay reveal, to the preview event of Season 6 – we do our absolute best to involve our community and listen to our players – and I think it’s resulted in us having the best FPS community out there!
MP1st: When we first played The Finals before the official release, we already had a strong grasp of the possibilities that the game could produce with all its dynamic features. Still, every now and then, we’ll see someone in the community post something just completely crazy, like sending a Cashbox into orbit or using the destruction in such a well-timed manner that it feels scripted but isn’t; it’s just how the game can be. Looking back on the last year and what the team has seen, what would you say has been the most memorable moment you’ve seen pulled off by a player? What has been the most shocking in that you weren’t expecting someone to use a specific gadget/tool in a way that it wasn’t programmed but ended up working anyway?
Embark: Oh boy, where do we even begin!? It’s hard to pinpoint a specific moment that made us go “what just happened!?” because there are so many to choose from, but, I think the “goo planes” deserve an honorable mention here for sure! In the end THE FINALS is a sandbox, and a playground of physics, destruction and creative gadgets all built on systems that enable emergent gameplay. This really is a recipe for some absolutely unique moments!
MP1st: When last we spoke (2023 interview), the team didn’t have any plans for them but wasn’t completely ruling out potential crossovers. Given the reason was to make sure the game had a good launch, this was for the best, but it does also look like something the community has opened up more to over the year. The big thing that was said was that it had to fit the game, and I can think of a few popular things that fit, such as Squid Games, Fall Guys, Portal, and other contestant sports-like mediums that can go beyond just cosmetics. Wishful on our part for the examples, but have there been any changes to those plans?
Embark: Nothing’s really changed on this matter. Whatever crossover we might do in the future they have to make sense to both THE FINALS, our lore, the world we’ve built and respect our players. While we don’t have anything planned right now, it’s absolutely nothing we’ve ruled out!
MP1st: The Finals was recently released on PS4 but not on Xbox One, why was that decision made? Is it due to the player counts on each platform?
Embark: This actually comes down to strictly hardware. While getting THE FINALS to run in a stable and enjoyable way on PS4 is already a technical marvel – doing the same for Xbox One just wasn’t something which is feasible right now.
MP1st: Speaking of, where are the most players of The Finals? Can we get a breakdown of it just for reference?
Embark: We’re very happy to say that THE FINALS has a very stable and healthy playerbase across all our platforms, and that the release of PS4 further grew our playerbase and community!
MP1st: So we know Season 8 is coming and being marked as the major one. But what about Season 7? Is there anything you can tease on that front? Should we expect the season to follow a similar structure as Season 6, or does the team have something special planned for it?
Embark: Fans of THE FINALS will not be disappointed by Season 7, but that’s really all we can reveal about it right now.
MP1st: With the current climate in the gaming industry where countless layoffs are happening, games are shutting down, how can Embark navigate through these troubling times? Does Embark think the ballooning development costs will somehow pop soon?
Embark: The climate has absolutely been rough lately and we sympathize deeply with everyone affected. Even though we might have competitors, we are all industry co-workers and it saddens us every time we read or hear of another studio closing down. As for Embark and THE FINALS, our focus is all in on working with the excellent team we have here and making THE FINALS the absolute best version it can be!
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