At the end of 2023, we caught up to the official release of “The Finals”, announced in The Game Awards 2023 show. The game had a ton of hype, remaining in the top 10 best games on Steam based on the player count, but as some had already predicted, The Finals has already dropped from Steam’s Top 10 Games.
The Finals was crowned the king of FPS, right after CS2 (Counter Strike 2) in December 2023, coming in with a hot start, carrying its player count from the early access.
It had good parts from every top FPS game to this date, like the graphics from Fortnite, the destructible environment from Rainbow Six Siege, the competitive aspect of Counter-Strike, agile gameplay from Overwatch 2, and so on.
On top of all this, the game has a unique aspect and design, making it a flawless release, and something new for FPS lovers, that we all wanted. But, what’s the cause of its player count dropping in only a month? Let’s get to the depth of this topic below.
Release of The Finals and Hype
The release of The Finals was a big hit, peeking around 200k to 250k players on Steam which is more than any other FPS game except CS2/CSGO, which has around 1 million players.
The whole “Game Awards 2023” had a heavy audience witness the release of The Finals, Elden Ring, and other titles.
Not only on PC, but The Finals had a spectacular launch for Xbox as well because of its unique commentary, agile gameplay, and destructible environment.
The exact peek of The Finals on Steam was 242k, on 10th December 2023.
Current Player Drop in The Finals
After The Finals peeked on 242k, we had an 80 percent player count drop, and roughly we have 50k players playing The Finals. It took The Finals from the Top 10 games on Steam. You can check the details on The Finals player count from SteamDB.
Remember: SteamDB showcases the player count on PC games and missing out on the console games. But a rule of thumb is that the console player count is always much lower in contact with their PC ports.
Talking about consoles… There is OneXPlayer X1, a competitor to Steam Deck, and a new product in hand-held PC gaming consoles.
Future of The Finals
With a dip like this, it is hard to even crown The Finals again to be an FPS or COD killer, as it dropped the 80 percent player count in only a month.
But, on the other hand, the developers of The Finals are trying their best to provide support, release updates, patch up the game, and throw new features.
Furthermore, game experts already knew that The Finals is expected to show a player dip. As to what the future prediction holds – The Finals will see a further dip, and might even lose a ton of its player counts due to all the top titles that are coming in 2024, down the line.
What is the reason behind Player Drop in The Finals?
Following are some of the reasons that The Finals dropped its player count in early 2024, after only being released for 1 and a half months.
- Every match is similar/repetitive, and based on the same concept – cashout!
- The ranking system is not proper and not a proper thing to aim towards and grind
- Solo queue is boring, as the game is best enjoyed with a friendly squad
- Not many game modes to capture other FPS lovers
- An FPS taking on old titles with perfected ranking, loyal player base, and matchmaking systems like Counter-Strike, Rainbow Six Siege, COD, Apex Legends, Overwatch, Valorant, and so on
The Verdict
The Finals might be another FPS Shooter that tried its best to take on other titles but failed because of its player count dropping 80 percent, from 250k to around 50k, in more or less a month.
Developers are still around, providing new modes, fixing the issues, and pushing forward, but the matchmaking, repetitive aspect of the game, no real reason to grind, and broken ranking system takes a toll on the overall game.
There are a ton of reasons for The Finals to drop its player count and degrade from Steam’s Top 10. As to what the future holds, the news is not good, because 2024 is a great year for gaming. New titles will emerge and players will lose interest in The Finals.
Fingers crossed! Let’s see how the developers of The Finals are going to bring back its player base.
