Hello Contestants!

We’re pushing an update through now that will fix the broken text strings that some players have been seeing in-game since Update 9.9.0. This issue was caused by an update to the system we use for text strings. Everyone should see the correct names with this fix! 

As always, we thank you for all the reports.

SEE YOU IN THE ARENA!

A beautiful moon takes over the Arena, and rising lanterns float upwards, casting a soft glow across the Arena. The Lunar New Year festivities have officially started in THE FINALS!
Don’t miss the Lunar New Year decor scattered across many of the maps in the Arena. Pick prizes from the lanterns in the Lunar New Year collection event, and say hello to Bank It, a fan favorite returning as a limited time mode.   

Alongside a refreshed store, you can also earn a brand-new set of free Twitch drops and read about some balance changes to weapons like the CB-01 Repeater, and more!

Check out the details below:

Light em’ up!

Complete 3 daily contracts to light up a lantern each day and earn up to 15 free Lunar New Year-themed rewards, including the Legendary Final Mentra set!

We’ve also tuned the event a bit to make it easier for everyone, as you will now only need to collect 12 out of the 14 rewards in order to unlock the Legendary set! If you still end up missing a reward, the option to purchase any reward with Multibucks is also available.

The Arena is aglow with Lunar New Year decorations lighting up selected maps! Visit Fangwai City, Las Vegas, Monaco, Seoul, and Fortune Stadium to embrace the festive spirit! 

A classic in THE FINALS is now back as a Limited-Time Mode!

That’s right, Bank It is making its return as you race to eliminate your opponents and collect precious red envelopes to bring them safely to a Deposit Station. Be on your guard, the more envelopes you collect, the longer and more visible the trail behind you becomes, making you a prime target to eliminate.

Unlock vaults, eliminate your opponents, steal their envelopes, and don’t wait too long to Bank It! 

It has been said that they never truly left the Arena. Step into the boots of the mysterious spirits inside THE FINALS with the Ling Shen and Graveward Revenant sets and chase down your opponents in a relentless pursuit for vengeance. Oh, and… a duck.

Wireless. Sort of.File your HOLTOW insurance claim hands-free thanks to your brand-new, sturdy, 45 EU-sized phone that’s been laced with the latest tech! Call a friend and make a sole-ful connection or stay dialed in from head to toe! If you listen carefully, you might even hear Oscar say “Hello?”  

Watch anyone playing THE FINALS with Drops Enabled to earn the “Hello?” Emoticon, “Cold Call Relic” Charm and the “Bootleg Hotline” headwear.

Impressive how far technology has come. This has been a real step up in communications.
Available until Feb 26.

Balance Changes

BFR Titan

• Decreased damage from 90 to 88

• Increased manual action duration from 0.73s to 0.745s, causing the gun to fire slower

  • This change effectively decreases the BFR’s fire rate from 82RPM to 80.5RPM

• Decreased damage falloff minimum range from 30m to 25m, giving the weapon a slightly shorter effective range

• Decreased damage falloff max range from 45m to 40m, giving the weapon a slightly shorter effective range

• Decreased damage falloff multiplier from 0.7 to 0.65, reducing the weapon’s damage at range

  Dev Note: These changes are aimed at reducing the Heavy’s ability to ‘poke’ at ranged compared to the Medium and especially the Light, as we feel the ‘poke’ meta has become a bit too possible for the non-Light archetypes. With a low ammo weapon like the BFR, there’s little room to balance here, but we believe these changes should weaken the Heavy’s ability to ‘poke’. This and the CB-01 change were originally planned for 9.7, but held back for further testing.  

CB-01 Repeater

• Decreased damage from 88 to 84

• Increased lever action duration from 0.71s to 0.73s, causing the gun to fire slower

  • This change effectively decreases the CB-01’s fire rate from 84.5RPM to 82RPM

• Decreased damage falloff minimum range from 40m to 35m, giving the weapon a slightly shorter effective range

• Decreased damage falloff max range from 45m to 40m, giving the weapon a slightly shorter effective range

• Decreased damage falloff multiplier from 0.7 to 0.64, reducing the weapon’s damage at range

  Dev Note: As with the BFR changes above, these changes are aimed at reducing the ‘poke’ strength of the Medium, while also making the Pike-335 a more comparable weapon choice for long-ranged Medium players

Cerberus 12GA

• Increased pellet count from 11 to 13

• Decreased damage from 9 to 8 per pellet

• Updated pellet pattern to fit the new pellet count and normalize distribution, making the weapon more consistent

• Decreased the heat generated per pellet to account for the extra pellets. The ignition point for players/objects catching fire should remain the same as before

  Dev Note: These changes are aimed at bringing the Cerberus back to viability, without it becoming as overpowered as it has been in some previous seasons. To get the right level of overall damage, we needed to increase the pellet count to give us more room to work with. The damage per pellet was reduced to offset this a little, but the change effectively results in a buff from 99 damage per shot to 104, excluding fire damage.

LH1

• Reduced camera shake from firing the weapon by approximately 50%, increasing readability between shots

• Fixed an issue where animations for throwing a Grenade or interrupting a throw could sometimes fail to play

• Fixed an issue where the Flip-Out Flayer skin for the Dagger could appear to float during inspect

• Improved crouch pose, turning while crouching, and slide transitions for smoother visuals and more consistent motion when transitioning to standing and running

• Fixed an issue where first-person animations could continue playing after switching to third-person view (for example, by activating the Mesh Shield or the Spear’s alternate attack), causing visual inconsistencies 

• Fixed an issue where the left hand could shake while sliding with the .50 Akimbo Manual Ballistics skin (Pew pew!)

• Fixed an issue where a Contestant’s feet could appear misaligned during movement

• Fixed an issue where switching between teammates while spectating could sometimes carry over animations and give the appearance of a player performing a Quick Melee movement  

• Fixed a bug where using the Gateway while swapping weapons could result in incorrect animations or deformed weapon and arm visuals

• Fixed a bug where the initial spawn animation could sometimes trigger when being revived with the Defibrillator

• Updated the Tracking Dart’s ADS firing animation to be less aggressive

• Fixed audio stutters when sliding on stairs or debris

• Fixed an issue where Quick Melee sounds from other players sometimes would not play

• Fixed inconsistent sprinting footstep sounds when the Riot Shield is equipped

• Added a sound when players pick up deployed Gadgets so others can hear the action

• Fixed missing water impact sounds for melee hits

• Fixed an issue where Repeater reload sounds could continue playing after the reload was interrupted

• Fixed an issue where movement sound effects would sometimes play while idling with the Riot Shield

• Volpe Bout Blanket now displays the proper decal, which matches the icons

• Ensured that Gala Guard Cut, Gothic Leather Pants, Bouncer Trim, Kabuto, and Tosei Gusuoku items display correctly on both High and Low graphics settings

• Fixed an issue where the Contestant icon on Player Cards could appear grayed out or show an outdated look after equipping an item from the Store

• Adjusted the The Fumigator facewear to prevent clipping when combined with headwear

• Fixed an issue causing Catastrophe Grin (The ÖRF! mascot head) to appear low-resolution in the Contestant Screen on low settings

• Fixed an issue where Light characters’ heels appeared to be floating when wearing the Ascendant Soles boots

• Fixed an issue where the Pocket Pop & Play charm would activate when not visible

• We’ve updated the Chart-Topper emote to better match the intended movement 

General

• Fixed an issue in the drafting screen where the team loadout overlay could appear under the wrong squad member or fail to update when teammates changed Contestants

Cashout

• Fixed an issue that could occasionally cause a 7th and 8th Vault to spawn in Cashout matches

Point Break

• Updated the Lockbolt to allow it to attach to Grand Vaults again

• Slightly increased the effect of the Anti-Gravity Cube on Grand Vaults
  Dev note: With the addition of constraint zones around the objective in 9.7, which  prevent the Grand Vaults being moved too far from their original spawn location, we feel we can now increase the impact of Anti-Gravity Cubes on the Grand Vaults without significant negative effects 

Private Matches 

• To celebrate the Lunar New Year LTM, Bank It has been temporarily added back to the Mode pool

General

• Fixed a bug where Practice Range Bots would stop shooting when players stood too close to them

• Fixed flower pots across several maps not triggering the Fatal Florist achievement

• Fixed an issue where reloading while carrying objects would not reload the Weapon correctly when playing with gamepad

• Removed an unintended camera shake in spectator free-cam when observing a Contestant firing Tracking Darts

• Fixed an issue where explosive canisters sometimes failed to display explosion effects, particularly when struck with melee in the Practice Range

General

• Improved the look of billboard videos in Monaco and Seoul 

• Reduced the brightness of certain lamps in nighttime map variants to prevent glare and improve visibility

• Increased the health of rooftops in Monaco and Kyoto to make them consistent with other structural elements 

• Temporarily removed the Duck and Cover variant due to compatibility issues with the Lunar New Year Event decor

• Fixed an issue where hanging clothes and other simple destructible props, wall decals, and fixtures could remain floating or fail to break after nearby structures were destroyed

Nozomi Citadel

• Polished arena signs and improved visuals and collision

Fortune Stadium

• Rolled out improved destruction, adding impact damage, to deliver more consistent, reliable, and dynamic destruction

• Corrected misplaced rubble piles and fixed culling and collision issues after building destruction

• Fixed an issue where a staircase pillar had no collision after being destroyed

Seoul

• Fixed a visual jitter that could occur when the large apartment building collapses

• Fixed a railing near the Data Center that could not be destroyed

• Fixed an issue where apartment buildings didn’t respond correctly to environmental damage 

Fangwai City

• Adjusted the tournament intro lighting to improve visibility

•  Fixed a gap in the ground that could appear after destroying a building

• Corrected flickering on an uphill road section

• Adjusted Zipline and Jump Pad placement

SysHorizon

• Fixed doorframes to resolve visibility issues in multiple locations

Kyoto

• Temple ceiling decorations now break when the supporting structure is destroyed to improve consistency

• Fixed three ladders to improve traversal reliability

• Adjusted a garden Zipline to better align with nearby Jump Pads

• Reduced light leakage on rooftops to improve lighting quality

• Trees can now be destroyed by the environment

• The Pagoda has received Smooth Destruction to allow for more dynamic collapses and knock-on effects

• Updated banners to break on touch so they no longer block rockets and grenades

Las Vegas Stadium

• Fixed visible floor gaps in the Engimo building

Bernal

• Fixed an issue where multiple suspended structures could collapse after removing a single hook

Skyway

• Fixed a weak spot in the destruction that could cause parts of a building to collapse incorrectly 

• Improved performance of environmental destruction updates, especially regarding small changes to large structures

• Fixed an issue where the shader stutter warning could appear incorrectly during gameplay

• Reduced frame hitches when loading player assets during matches

• Shader preloading is now significantly faster in subsequent runs

• FSR and DLSS Frame Generation now requires a restart to turn on in the settings and will reduce the memory usage and latency, especially with vsync turned on

• Optimized CPU performance of in-game billboard videos

• Fixed an issue where changing graphics settings could cause Weapons or hands to appear distorted or to temporarily not render

• Reduced hitches and stutters when items and cosmetics are granted or when switching Contestants

• Fixed an issue where typing past the 16-character limit when editing your Embark ID could disable the Confirm button

• Fixed a bug where friends who set "Show As Offline" could disappear from the Friends list until reopening the Social menu

• Fixed an issue where Point Break was missing from the Clubs preferred game mode list, making it selectable again in the Playstyle dropdown

• Platform friends who choose to appear offline are now shown as offline in Clubs, and inviting to Party from the Clubs screen respects their hidden status

• Fixed an issue where the Club Contracts tab could show placeholder icons or hide contracts when using languages other than English

• Console players can now open a player's profile directly from the match summary scoreboard

• Embark ID is now the primary name shown across all platforms. On consoles, platform display name is also shown next to the platform icon on player profiles

Winch Claw

• Fixed an issue where the Winch Claw sometimes wouldn't work when activated immediately after vaulting

• Fixed an issue where a Charge N Slam from teammates could cancel Winch Claw hooks, causing hooks to break unexpectedly

• Fixed several issues with the Statue camera: it now respects the option to avoid spectating statues, no longer switches to destroyed statue markers, prevents jitter when teammates block the view, and removes a brief jump to an unrelated location when your team is eliminated

• Spectating now works as intended and updates the spectated statue’s status correctly

• Fixed cases where switching to Free-Fly Cam at the moment the viewed player is eliminated could leave the camera tilted or keep unintended camera effects

• Fixed an issue where the spectator camera could get stuck or lose its target after the last followed player was eliminated

• Fixed a rare client crash

• Fixed a crash that could occur at the end of a match in scenarios involving the Anti-Gravity Cube

• Fixed an issue where the player marker scale option didn’t change the actual marker size

• Fixed a bug where adding a secondary keybind overwrote the primary keybind in the next round

• Fixed an issue where creating a new default Outfit could replace thumbnails of previously saved Outfits

• Fixed an issue where deleting a duplicated Outfit could turn some thumbnails black

• Fixed an issue where the post-elimination Player Card could appear blank or show a hologram instead of the correct Contestant model

• Fixed an issue where the first loadout icon could appear blurry after launching the game

• Increased visibility of on-screen hit markers against solid-color backgrounds

• Adjusted controller bindings for the Equipment Wheel preset: fixed overlap between Ping and the Communication Wheel so pinging works again, restored the Equipment Wheel direction on the gadget radial, and moved Go To Marker to the right face button

• Added clearer communication to the end of round in Point Break to enhance player understanding of match outcomes

Hello from the anti-cheat team!

In the patch notes for our 9.0 update we described how we’ve been significantly increasing our cheat detection capabilities, enabling us to detect even more types of cheats with higher precision. In this update, we want to give you an idea of how some of this technology works to help give you a better sense of what we’ve been doing, and to address some worries we’ve seen the community discussing related to the notion of false bans. 

To start off, I think we should put cheating in THE FINALS into some kind of context. At present, on any given day and calculated across all players, only about 0.02% of players receive a ban.  This is a relatively small number of bans, but online discussions can make it seem otherwise. 

So how do we know bans aren’t false? Let’s examine one example that showcases the kinds of detections we have been working on and the process we go through before introducing them into the game.

In THE FINALS, weapon recoil must be manually controlled. Each burst generates hundreds of mouse or controller inputs. Human recoil control produces organic, noisy patterns. 

For example, the image below shows a natural recoil pattern with the M11, where the player has tried to control the weapon. Below that is the output of the player’s mouse, showing the sort of natural pattern we see with natural, human recoil control.          

By comparison, cheats such as aimbots, XIM devices, recoil scripts, or spoofed aim assist replace that human control with automated input. These systems generate artificial, highly consistent patterns where natural noise disappears. The image below shows what this tight recoil control looks like in game and the sort of input patterns generated by such cheats. 

Our newer anti-cheat systems include machine learning models trained for months on both real player data and known cheat data. They analyze input patterns and distinguish human control from scripted behavior.

Once these models were fully trained and able to accurately identify between cheats and real players we began to deploy them to the live game. To protect our players from false bans, we started conservatively with each new model, to gain confidence in the detections. All the while, tuning parameters. We apply strict detection thresholds that players have to pass to even be considered for a ban.  

When introducing a new detection rule, and periodically over time, we manually evaluate incoming ban appeals to ensure accuracy. We are now at a point where we are extremely confident in our current models. In all recent manually reviewed cases, the results have been correct. 

Although detection could technically occur within minutes, we intentionally accumulate data over longer periods before issuing bans in order to collect enough data and ensure a high confidence. This means that a single moment of excellent recoil control will not trigger the system.

Because monitoring happens over time, the exact timing of a ban is not necessarily meaningful. It simply reflects the point at which sufficient data has been collected. This protects against false positives and prevents cheaters from reverse-engineering detection thresholds.

Some of the current chatter around false bans likely comes from cheaters themselves. Models deployed over the last six months are catching cheats that previously went undetected, including players who avoided bans for long periods. We monitor cheat forums and Discord servers, and their recent reactions reflect that impact.

So the banhammer is not swinging indiscriminately, it’s dealing out precision blows.

Before we wrap up this update, we’d like to encourage you all to consider and examine any of the configuration software you might be using for keyboards and mice. Increasingly, manufacturers add scripting capabilities to a lot of their peripheral devices, and some might have default settings which could provide unfair advantages and trigger detections from anti-cheat solutions. These are often more easily reviewable on appeal, but our advice is that if you want to avoid potential issues, it’s always good to understand exactly what you’re installing. 

///Magnum