The Finals dev explains why their new game is no longer free-to-play

Embark has a lot of plans for the near future. The Finals is obviously continuing with Season 4 currently scheduled for September, meanwhile, they are set to host play tests for Arc Raiders in October. Unfortunately, although highly-anticipated, The Finals developer has announced that Arc Raiders will no longer be free-to-play as originally touted.

You can check out the update 3.10.0 patch notes to see the latest changes implemented to The Finals by Embark. Following this patch, many fans are upset that one of the best gadgets in the game has been “murdered”. As for beyond Season 3, Embark has teased amazing additions that they really want to leak, and we are set to get a new customization option for classes.

The Finals will continue to be supported throughout 2024 and next year. However, Embark has another multiplayer game on the cusp of coming out, and they have announced that Arc Raiders will have a premium fee instead of being free-to-play.

The Finals dev explains why Arc Raider is no longer free-to-play

Embark were at Gamescom 2024 Opening Night Live, and, while there was nothing about The Finals, they did resurrect Arc Raiders with the announcement of play tests for October. In addition to announcing these play tests, Embark announced that Arc Raiders is not going to be free-to-play when it arrives in 2025.

The developer hosted a presentation at Gamescom, and, per Gamesradar, executive producer, Aleksander Grondal, explained that free-to-play didn’t feel right for Arc Raiders as there are “different business models suitable for different types of games”.

Arc Raiders’ executive producer said, “For the game we’re building, we looked at that game and we felt that it became clear to us that it operates much better in a premium model than a free-to-play model”. He further claimed, “It’s a better game for it. This is not just a pure business decision. It’s also something that the developers on our team have been telling us. They feel like it’s more of that type of game”.

Grondal also rationalized, “The other part is that free-to-play games have to strike a careful balance between providing engaging content and encouraging players to make purchases. For Arc Raiders, this shift will allow us to focus more on the engagement and fun and the impact and choices with regards to how the game evolves over time. We can optimize differently in this game and give out more rewards, as an example of how it progresses”.

Finally, the executive producer promised, “Our decision with regards to Arc Raiders specifically doesn’t reflect anything on what our other games are up to. We are trying to do what’s best for the game and for the players, to make these decisions setting ourselves up to succeed and also create the most engaging game for our players. Some games are much better in the free-to-play model. We believe Arc Raiders is better in the premium model”.

There’s no release date for Arc Raiders as all we know is that it will arrive sometime in 2025. We’re looking forward to see what Embark has been cooking as, and we only have to wait a couple of months to enjoy the play tests.

For more The Finals, check out our guide to the best weapons in the game ranked, and we also have a guide to the best gadgets. In addition, we have a guide to the best FPS settings to help you win matches along with a ranking of the best classes in the game.