Developer Embark Studios launched its open beta test of its upcoming free-to-play first-person shooter The Finals in late October. It became a big hit, at least on the PC platform via Steam, where it typically had concurrent player numbers in the six-figure range.
Today, the open beta test came to an end after nearly two weeks, and Embark posted word on its X (formerly Twitter) account that The Finals had over 7.5 million gamers play across the PC, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms.
The Open Beta has come to an end!
— THE FINALS (@reachthefinals) November 6, 2023
An unforgettable week for us — a whopping 7.5 MILLION contestants entered the arena! Now it’s time for us to hunker down and get back to work on all the fixes and improvements you helped us identify. GG and until next time! 🫶#REACHTHEFINALS pic.twitter.com/JI1KXQMNdr
The game"s big draw was likely its over-the-top action where teams of three players each battled it out in virtual arenas where nearly every building and object was destructible.
There was some controversy during the open beta. One of the game"s audio developers stated in a podcast interview that The Finals mostly used text-to-speech features for its voice acting. After that bit of info generated some negative comments from some gamers, Embark backtracked somewhat, as a spokesperson claimed the game used "a mix of professional voice actors and temporary voices from Embark employees" for its AI text-to-speech features.
Now that the open beta has ended, and after two previous rounds of closed betas for the PC version, there"s now a waiting game to see when The Finals will actually launch. So far Embark has yet to make any comments on when we can be expected to play The Finals again but hopefully, we won"t have to wait too long before the game is officially ready for a non-beta test.