Video Games

The Finals open beta is so popular, the developer had to implement a queue

A good omen for the upcoming first-person shooter

Marco Wutz

The Finals open beta is so popular, the developer had to implement a queue
The Finals open beta is so popular, the developer had to implement a queue /

Embark Studios and Nexon’s The Finals is currently having an open beta test that’s proving to be quite popular: Close to 140,000 players tried out the first-person shooter simultaneously at one point on Steam alone, forcing Embark to implement a login queue for some time to keep the servers from being overwhelmed.

Announced during the recent Xbox Partner Preview, this open beta for the game is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S with enabled crossplay. Testing that system is one of the focus points of this public test, stress-testing the servers is another one – and it sounds like Embark Studios is getting more than enough data in this regard.

The Finals competitior in front of a billboard
The open beta of The Finals seems to be going well :: Embark Studios / Nexon

Players have been quite happy with the changes made to the PC version of the game compared to the last closed beta of the title, but it sounds like the console version, or more specifically the controller inputs, need more work. Many users criticize the aiming on controllers, saying it feels very difficult and sluggish.

Another point of contention seems to be the relatively high time to kill (TTK). TTK in The Finals is quite high by design to allow players to turn engagements around and motivate them to stick with their team and work together. Of course, if you’re used to something like Call of Duty with its very low TTK, the battles in The Final can feel very drawn out.

There seems to be mixed feedback on the game’s modes as well, which don’t find love at every corner. Players are missing something more traditional like a King of the Hill mode and aren’t all too on board with the heist-style gameplay it seems like.

Still, the high interest in the shooter featuring destructible terrain and very versatile character customization is a positive sign for the developers – now it’s just about coming to the right conclusion from all the data they are gathering and implementing the correct solutions. Of course, that’s easier said than done.

The Finals preview: chaos incarnate

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Marco Wutz
MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg

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