SEASON 7: THE DIVIDE
The Arena is split. The lines are drawn. And now it’s your turn to choose a side.
CNS has hacked its way into the spotlight, and VAIIYA is stepping up to shut them down. On one side: precision, order, and machine logic. On the other: chaos, color, and glitchy determination. Their clash has fractured the Arena itself, creating a whole new map, and you’re going to need to navigate your way through the aftermath.
We’ve got a new map ready for you to destroy new Gadgets that shake up every class, the boldest cosmetics, and Battle Passes that take us from past to future and suit every Contestant’s style of grind!
Whether you’re here to flex, get strategic, knock down the walls, or just make it rain coins, THE DIVIDE awaits!
Let’s get into it.
THE RIFT
Welcome to NOZOMI/CITADEL, a stunning, destructible Arena split down the middle by The Rift.
VAIIYA holds one side with towering precision. CNS claims the other with unruly, iridescent chaos. Between them is a battleground that shifts from tight corridors to wide-open mayhem. From brutal architecture to reactive nature, the Arena feels as divided as the forces fighting inside it.
There’s so much to explore in its sprawling, architecturally divided footprint.
NEW GADGETS
Three game-changers enter the mix:
H+ Infuser | Light
Friendly fire has never been so friendly!
The H+ Infuser lets you heal teammates by shooting them. Precision matters. Gratitude is optional. Just be sure to aim well!
Breach Drill | Medium
It’s time you had a breakthrough!
Stick the Breach Drill to any surface and it burrows through, blinds whoever’s on the other side, and then detonates. Clear the room in a flash.
Healing Emitter | Heavy
Don’t chase it. Let the healing come to you.
Chuck the Healing Emitter near your squad to restore health over time. Just don’t let it roll off, or get carried away by an enemy Team.
THE SPONSORS?
This time around, you’ll have to choose between one of two sponsors. With CNS back in the Arena, VAIIYA has risen up to re-secure the gameshow. It’s time to pick a side, and remember, you have to live with your choice for the whole Season.
VAIIYA
Defending your digital frontier.
VAIIYA is the Arena’s digital shield, a cybersecurity giant led by CEO Sal Scoria. With elite firewalls, neural implants, and zero tolerance for threats, they blend human precision with cold machine logic.
Fight smart. Stay protected. VAIIYA has your back.
CNS
Seek the truth beyond the walls.
CNS is a rogue collective out to expose MultiCo and rewrite the gameshow on their terms. They’ve hijacked broadcasts, corrupted systems, and made their presence impossible to ignore.
They weren’t invited. They broke in.
SEASON 7 BATTLE PASSES
From cybernetic to cyberpunk, every reward reflects the Rift.
This season has more Battle Pass options than ever before, so there’s something for everyone!
PREMIUM BATTLE PASS:
Old faithful, going strong.
106 rewards, including the bonus page, 1,575 Multibucks!
PREMIUM+:
Give yourself a boost!
106 rewards, including the bonus page, 1,575 Multibucks! Plus 20 levels instantly unlocked so you can hit the ground running.
ULTIMATE BATTLE PASS:
The best way to go all in.
Everything the Premium Battle Pass has to offer, along with 1,000 Multibucks upfront, 25% XP boost, 20 levels unlocked, and 10 extra elite rewards! This will get you a total 2575 Multibucks and 116 Rewards to unlock! If you buy the Ultimate Battle Pass after buying Premium or Premium+, you’ll get an additional instant refund of 1150 Multibucks.
FREE TRACK:
Something for everyone!
26 unlocks, including the Level 96 Mythic outfit, The Devourer, and 375 Multibucks, just for playing.
THE BATTLE PAST
Starting in Season 7, you can unlock Legacy Battle Passes to chase iconic rewards from Seasons 1-4. Boxer outfits. TV heads. Towering samurai fits. If you missed them, now’s your chance.
Legacy Passes don’t include Multibucks or Bonus Pages, but if you owned the Premium Pass back then, it’s unlocked for free. Missed a reward? Go get it. Every season, we’ll unlock the next Legacy Battle Pass!
Season 1 never had a bonus page, so we added something new: a brand-new outfit just for S1 Legacy Pass holders.
Bought the Captain Saucerian Set during Season 4? Don’t worry, you’ll get the S1 Legacy Pass, too.
Unlock items with Show Tokens, a new currency you earn simply by playing!
INTRODUCING PRACTICE RANGE CHALLENGES
You’ve seen the door in the Practice Range. Now it’s open.
Step into a new set of combat trials built to sharpen your aim, test your loadouts, and push your skills against reactive dummies that hit back.
Go in for a solo challenge or take your Team with you. Hone your skills and set the difficulty you prefer.
TIME TO INVITE THE NEWBIES
The Arena can be an intense place for newcomers, so with Season 7 of THE FINALS we are doing multiple changes to make the onboarding just that much nicer.
RECRUIT & RISE
We’re making onboarding more rewarding (and cooperative) with the Recruit and Rise program!
Veteran players (Recruiters) will be able to invite newcomers (Prospects) to team up and play together. There are rewards on the line for both Recruiters and Prospects, and for every Prospect you help graduate into a Recruiter themselves, your recruiter badge upgrades!
EASIER UNLOCKS
Since the launch of THE FINALS we’ve added a bunch of Gadgets, Weapons, Sights and Specializations! For new players, catching up and unlocking all those loadout options can take a long time.
This Season, we’re decreasing the VR cost of all items released during Season 1 through 6 to 500 VRs. We are also increasing the VR’s earned during the first three rounds played from 2400 to 5000!
It’s the perfect time to get your friends back into the game! Don’t forget to add them as your Prospect!
BADGE HUNTERS REJOICE!
Leveling up your badges in Quick Play and World Tour has been described as a bit brutal in Season 6, so we aim to lighten the load in Season 7 by speeding up progression in these more casual modes!
QUALITY OF LIFE, LEVELED UP
Season 7 brings more ways to flex, progress, and party up.
Leave your signature sticker on objectives. Let Deep Shuffle, a weapon and gadget skin randomizer, remix your style. Recruit friends for shared rewards. Level up much faster in Quick Play and World Tour. And yep, console players can finally chat in-game.
More tools. More style. More reasons to play. Welcome to Season 7!
Let’s break it down.
For a more visually pleasing version of the patch notes, see our website.
Balance Changes
Arena Carriables
Gas Canister
Removed the required instant damage to trigger, making them easier to active
Glitch Barrel
Decreased health from 75 to 50
Goo Barrel
Decreased health from 75 to 50
Decreased Goo blob health from 300 to 240
Healing Barrel
Decreased health from 50 to 15
Removed the required instant damage to trigger, making them easier to active
Powder Canister
Decreased health from 50 to 15
Removed the required instant damage to trigger, making them easier to active
Gadgets
General
Added controller aim assistance support to deployable Gadgets such as Turrets, APS, Explosive Mines etc, meaning these objects should be much less frustrating to aim at for controller users
Anti-Gravity Cube
Decreased cooldown from 35s to 28s
Dev Note: This small adjustment should make the Cube more appealing given its lower usage despite strong impact.
APS Turret
Decreased the health consumed per projectile to 20%, meaning a full health APS can now block 5 projectiles instead of 4
Dev Note: APS Turret usage has gradually dropped over time, as players have found more reliable ways to counter it. This adjustment aims to give the APS a little more power and hopefully make it slightly more useful to players.
Flashbang
Increased view angle falloff, reducing effects when looking away
Decreased the radial check from 3m to 1m, meaning players will be much less likely to be flashed when looking away from a Flashbang
Dev Note: These changes hopefully make the Flashbang less punishing for players who actively countered it by looking away from it. It should also reduce some of the Flashbang spam that can occur in TDM mode.
Goo Grenade
Decreased the size of the goo wall from 2x6 to 2x5
Decreased goo blob health from 300 to 240
Dev Note: For a while now Goo Grenades have been creeping up in usage in the majority of modes and skill tiers, with usage now on par with other Gadgets and disproportionately higher than some. This higher rate of ‘goo spam’ has also been frustrating for a lot of players due to how easy it can sometimes make Cashout steals.
In the ‘attack and defend’ dynamics of Cashout and Quick Cash modes, it’s important to us that defenders can slow the progress of attacking teams, so we don’t want to reduce the power of goo too much, but we believe these changes will tone down its power slightly, allowing well-prepared players to better counter goo.
Gravity Vortex
Decreased cooldown from 24s to 20s
Game Modes
Cashout (Ranked Tournaments)
Decreased the size of various spawn negation zones, making slightly more respawn locations eligible for use when respawning players
Increased the reconnect window for disconnected players who are in parties of three, from 210 seconds to match end. This means players have until the end of a match to reconnect without taking a matchmaking sanction or a Ranked Score penalty if their party matches the team size
Dev Note: The current 210 second reconnect window exists to reduce how often players have a bad experience due to a random teammate disconnecting. In the case where the teammate isn’t a random player but an invited party member, and your party makes up the whole team, it makes less sense to have such a restrictive window to prevent griefing. We hope this change makes the reconnect window a little more forgiving for parties.
Updated the Ranked Score penalty system. The player who first abandons a match will take a fixed Ranked Score penalty, any players who subsequently leave will not receive a Ranked Score penalty, only a Ranked Score update based on their final match placement
Dev Note: The goal of this change is to try and reduce some of the negative impact of teammates disconnecting and not returning.
Introduced Ranked Score penalty reduction system. Any Ranked Score reductions applied for a player getting eliminated from a tournament will be reduced by ~30% if their team had a player abandon the match. This rule is not applied if the missing player was in your party, to avoid exploits.
Dev Note: This is another change aimed at reducing the negative consequences of teammates disconnecting in ranked matches. To avoid exploits and loss evasion, this rule only applies to players who were matchmade together, not players in parties where a party member abandoned the game.
Cashout (World Tour)
Decreased the size of various spawn negation zones, making slightly more respawn locations eligible for use when respawning players
Increased the reconnect window for disconnected players who are in parties of three, from 210 seconds to match end. This means players have until the end of a match to reconnect without taking a matchmaking sanction if their party matches the team size
Increased the size of the World Tour map pool to include all maps for the whole season, rather than our previous weekly rotations
Dev Note: Over time, we’ve come to believe that limiting the size of the World Tour map pool and rotating it weekly isn’t giving World Tour players the best possible experience or variety, so we’ve decided to enable the whole map pool at all times, just like in Ranked Tournaments.
Terminal Attack
Increased the reconnect window for disconnected players who are in parties of five, from 210 seconds to match end. This means players have until the end of a match to reconnect without taking a matchmaking sanction if their party matches the team size
Progression Points
Quick Play Points
Increased the Points earned for finishing first in Quick Cash from 8 to 10
Increased the Points earned for finishing second in Quick Cash from 5 to 6
Increased the Points earned for finishing third in Quick Cash from 4 to 5
Increased the Points earned for winning matches in Power Shift, Terminal Attack or TDM modes from 8 to 10
Increased the Points earned for losing matches in Power Shift, Terminal Attack or TDM modes from 4 to 5
Dev Note: We’ve heard your feedback on how the grind for both Quick Play Rank and World Tour Rank feels a little too long. These changes should make the journey to Gold 1 quite a bit shorter, while still making it an achievement to reach that rank.
VRs
Decreased the VR cost of all items released during Seasons 1 through Season 6 to 500 VRs
Set the VR cost for items released in Season 7 to 2,200
Increased the amount of VRs new players receive after completing three rounds from 2,400 to 5,000
Dev Note: For some time now, players bringing their friends into THE FINALS have been telling us they struggle to get into the game because the range of items they can use or unlock early on is quite limited. These changes in VR costs and the amount of VRs unlocked by new players should speed up that process a lot and hopefully make it easier for new players to get into the game.
Win Points
Increased the number of Win Points earned for losing in the first round of World Tour matches from 0 to 2
Dev Note: As mentioned above, we’ve heard your feedback on how difficult you feel it is to reach the Emerald tiers in World Tour, and that you don’t feel rewarded for your time when you lose a first round match. This addition, although it looks small, guarantees two Win Points for every match played, speeding up the journey to Emerald by around 25% for the average player.
Specializations
Goo Gun
Decreased goo blob health from 300 to 240
Weapons
General
Rebalanced the environmental damage values across multiple weapons to make them slightly more consistent when damaging and destroying props. This does not boost their damage values against buildings
93R
Increased magazine size from 21 to 24
Cerberus
Decreased damage per pellet from 10 to 9, reducing a full shot’s damage from 110 to 99
Dev Note: We’ve received a lot of negative feedback about the Cerberus more recently and its potential for very high burst damage at close range. We really want the Medium to have solid close range weapon options, but our data backs up the over-effectiveness of the Cerberus at close range, so this nudge to its damage will hopefully bring it more in line with other Medium weapons usage and effectiveness.
KS-23
Increased environmental damage from 700 to 1000, meaning it takes one less shot to fracture wall segments
Dev Note: This change is part of our recent steps to increase the viability of the KS-23 while retaining its unique character as a weapon.
LH1
Increased damage from 40 to 42
Dev Note: After our last round of changes to the LH1 the usage and effectiveness rates of the weapon dropped off a cliff, making it close to the worst Light weapon in the game. We believe this buff should address this issue and move the weapon back into a more viable tier for the Light, without going back to its previous overwhelming state.
M134 Minigun
Increased environmental damage from 25 to 30, meaning the Minigun can now more reliably remove three wall segments per full magazine
Sledgehammer
Decreased the damage of primary attacks from 115 to 100
Decreased the damage of secondary attacks from 200 to 154
Dev Note: The Sledghammer has gradually become one of the most effective weapons in the game across World Tour, Quick Cash, Ranked and Power Shift, both in win rates but also efficacy metrics such as eliminations and damage done per round, to the point that it’s essentially now a top three overall weapon. This has occurred at almost all skill tiers as well. This growth in effectiveness has also come with increased rates of negative sentiment from players on the receiving end of the Sledghammer, who feel they can never compete against it at close range. It has also led to the Sledgehammer having win rates far above the target level for a balanced item.
We want to address this status and feedback, but we’re also keen to ensure melee is viable in THE FINALS, so we’re cautious about changing the weapon too drastically. While the size of these damage changes initially looks quite large, they are very targeted. For the most part, they don’t change the number of ‘hits to kill’ in most cases, with only one or two match-ups being affected. They do, however, reduce the number of possible attack combinations that can be combined with quick melee attacks to get kills in fewer hits, for example a primary attack plus a quick melee versus a Light.
Following these changes, Quick Melee as a combo with the Sledgehammer should now be a sub-optimal approach, compared to simply using the Sledge’s primary and secondary attacks. As always, we’ll monitor the impact of these changes once live and adjust if necessary.
Content and Bug Fixes
Animation
Fixed an issue where characters sometimes looked broken when picking up items while inspecting their weapon
Fixed animations not looking great in third person when exiting ladders
Fixed an animation issue where you could sometimes see into" your lower body” when vaulting over objects
Fixed an issue with camera shake and animation being over the top when firing the Tracking Dart
Fixed an issue with Throwing Knives that could get stuck in the charged animation after swapping items
Audio
Improved randomization of music playlists to prefer songs from the latest season
Dev note: This is to ensure players who use a custom music playlist also get a fresh intro to the Season 7 Soundtrack. This can be changed by editing your playerlist preferences.
Reprioritized all sounds in the game
Dev note This is one of the biggest things we’ve done to combat culling sounds, such as footsteps, which could occur when too many sounds happen at once. We’ve gone through all of the sounds in the game and reprioritized them. This should ensure that when too many sounds are playing, the lower priority sounds are culled first.
Ensured that all gestures are only audible for players at an appropriate distance
Fixed the audience countdown to react properly to going into overtime
Dialogue lines added for late-game steals, and stealing Cashouts back
Improved tracking of used voice-over lines to increase variation between game sessions
First elimination of the round announcement now has a chance of June mentioning the team name
Ensured that June's Practice Range introduction only plays once per user
Changed the pitch of the Dummy voice effect depending on the player's (or bot's) archetype. Also enables this voice effect for players wearing the Dashboard Smirk Face
Increased the volume of the commentators' end-of-round voice over lines
Scotty will sometimes answer June with a team-specific mention after first team wipe announcement
Added the correct drop sounds for discarded props when previewing Emote animations
Controller
Aim Assist - Added camera magnetism and aim snapping for Deployables
Contracts
You are no longer able to advance melee multi kill achievements by eliminating party members
You are no longer able to advance burning achievements by eliminating party members
Destroying Sonar Grenades now counts toward destroying enemy placeables
Players can now successfully earn the “Pressure Prize" achievement for hitting a target with a Gas Canister
Fixed Club Contracts and levels that were broken in a previous update
Cosmetics & Customization
Fixed an issue causing 'Stream Circuit' skins to lose their glow when viewed from a distance
The Fuelborn JAcket will no longer clip with clavicle items, pets and upper body items anymore
Improved the Live Rounds crossbody item so the bullets and the belt move together
Fixed Buccaneer Bandolier clipping into shoulder when equipped with a Emblem
Fixed an issue that sometimes caused in-game gameplay effects to be applied on Player Cards
Fixed an issue that sometimes caused black outlines around characters on Player Cards
Tweaked texture streaming for capturing Player Cards. Blurry textures shouldn't happen often now
Fixed an issue that sometimes caused Player Cards to appear empty in Private Matches with Spectators
Added Deep Shuffle, an option to randomize equipment to select randomly from the collection of owned skins
Added Signature Sticker to the customization options - Contestants can now automatically attach a Sticker to a Cashbox and Cashout Station when a Vault is opened or when a Cashout is started
Fixed a flicker that could occur when switching between customizations in the Appearance screen
The Punktuator jacket, Golden Coil Jacket, and ISEUL-T Lifestyle Coat wont clip with Crossbody items anymore
Fixed Gateway particle effects disappearing in the Loadout screen Animations tab
Upgrade the rarity of the Handheld Heropack, Spudnik CL40 skin, Loop-De-Doom Lewis Gun skin, and Ray Gun 51 V9S skin to better reflect their Mythic status
Fixed Visual glitches with the golden details on the Emerald Prime Lewis Gun skin
Unique skin particle effects now remain after being revived with a Defibrillator
Fixed issue where characters equipped with the Multi-Mood Mask, Lustroflux Mask, Affection Display, and Critical Hit Mask would clip into the camera during respawn
Dynamism
Destruction
Dealing damage to the environmental objects like walls/floors/ceilings/pillars etc. will now show damage in the form of cracks appearing. The intensity of the cracks is based on the remaining health of the environmental object.
Glitch Mine
Fixed a bug which would cause the Glitch Mine to have extended range
Gadgets
Flashbang
Fixed an issue where Flashbangs would not show hitmarkers on successful hits
Glitch Mine
Fixed a bug which would cause the Glitch Mine to have extended range
Game Modes
Fix an edge case where the incorrect Team would advance in the event of a draw
Reimplemented the numerical and linear teamwipe respawn counter in the top left UI
Fixed issue where Quick Melee and Specialization would sometimes not work in the Practice Range
Fixing issue where we could have multiple Vaults spawn with only one Cashout Station in the map
Gameplay
Fixed an issue where backfilling players would use faulty spawnpoints on first spawn
Adjusted the size of the hit indicator slightly during repeated hits
Fix interactions failing prematurely when the player's head was very close to the ceiling, this could interrupt stealing Cashouts for example
Fixed an issue where changing accessibility options would not instantly reflect correct color on target dummies
Fixed an issue where firing a Weapon directly after vaulting would sometimes not produce correct hits on other players
Fixed an issue where setting “Aiming Inner Deadzone" to 0 would enable Aim Assist while not moving or aiming
Fixed an issue where contestants could fly by placing a Turret on a Carriable and standing on it
Maps
General
Adjusted the health of various cover and traversal assets to make them more consistent and appropriate for their size/material
Added scaling for long player names on billboards
Fix for walls on moving platforms showing the wrong mesh when viewed from a distance
Monaco
Fixed issue where unbreakable wall segments could be missing
Monaco - Cashout tutorial
Fixed ground collision where players were able to get stuck
Practice Range
Updated the character showcase to show new seasonal content
Performance & Stability
Fixed our most common client crashes
Optimized the animation runtime, should lead to better performance, especially on lower end platforms
Private Matches
Added the ability to promote another player to become a private lobby admin
Added support to change Game Mode in private lobbies without needing to remake the lobby
Rendering
Fixed an issue with ambient lighting on hair
Fixed an issue that caused some saved windowed resolutions to not on startup if DPI scaling was enabled in Windows
Fixed an issue causing lack of sky light-reflection in interiors and shaded areas
Fixed an issue where Mines and C4s were not visible from afar on low Quality Settings
Settings
Players are now able to change their Player numbers through the Settings menu
Updated the credits screen with a new look
Moved the respawn key binding to the gameplay category
Social
Fixed an issue related to sending invites to friends through third party platforms
Text chat now defaults to the team channel when you enter the game
Party Chat option in-game is removed if you are not playing in a party
Fixed an issue where quick key presses in chat windows could unintentionally toggle voice chat on/off
Fixed incorrect time stamps on club feed
Spectator
Add a bespoke spectator HUD featuring health bars for all teams and a more compact inventory widget
Team overview can now be customized and toggled on and off while spectating
Fixed the spectator being unable to move when reconnecting during a pause
Gamepad bindings - Changed input for recent point of interest from [Right Face button] to [D-pad Up] to avoid overlapping inputs
Fixed issue where the settings menu couldn't be closed while the match was paused
Fixed some of the spectator keybinds not working with gamepad
UI
Fix that the tournament outro screen would not show waiting for more players when going to the next match
Will no longer show elimination text for friendly eliminations (they are still shown in the kill feed)
Fixed an issue where some UI elements were missing right before a match started
Remaining ammo now blinks when low, instead of changing to a solid red color
Updated scoreboard animations to be more visible
Fixed two issues where the end of round scoreboard in the top left corner would display incorrect order and or score
Dummy health and name should now always show up in the Practice Range
Fixed the in-game HUD showing for a brief second before gameplay starts
Fixed sorting for Standard Issue weapon skins and Animations
Fixed an issue where in-game UI elements would sometimes be drawn on top of each other when they shouldn't
Fixed issues where the the Practice Range would announce every Dummy that respawned and players not within your area
Fixed issue where the league rank up screen could be closed with Escape resulting in an empty screen
Fixed issues where the players of different Practice ranges would show up as a message joining the practice range
Fixed an issue where players received a “cloaked a teammate" score when using cloak on themselves
Fixed the ongoing Cashout amount sometimes overlapping in the top left scoreboard.
Fixed the boot screen to not be on top when launching the game
Weapons
General
Moved most of the game's automatic weapons over to a new underlying weapon system
Dev Note: This new system should mean issues like the “I can't shoot” or “I can't ADS” bugs should be a thing of the past. As Season 7 progresses, we'll also be moving shotguns, lever action, pump action and bolt action items over to this system as well.
As a new system, we're expecting there might be some discrepancies that will need addressing. If you do find any issues, please report them to help us perfect this system ASAP.
You can no longer backstab inanimate objects, only Contestants
Weapon Sights
CB-01 Repeater
Fixed an issue where the default iron sight had more magnification than intended
CB-01 Repeater can now equip the Reflector Sight
Compact Reflector Sight
Rebalance to ensure this sight has the same magnification on all guns, Low (1X). This change affects the XP-54, CB-01 Repeater and R .357 which had higher zoom values
Reflector Sight
Decreased magnification from High to Medium (1.5X -> 1.25X)
Adder Reflex Sight
Rebalance to ensure this sight has the same magnification on all guns, Low (1X).
Holographic Sight
Rebalance to ensure this sight has the same magnification on all guns, Low (1X). This change affects the XP-54 and CB-01 Repeater who had higher zoom values
A message from our Anti-Cheat Team:
Dear Players,
Please join me on a small journey where we talk about cheaters in THE FINALS. As any competitive multiplayer game, cheaters exist in our game as well. The community has asked for more transparency in our communication and we are going to try to give you more information going forward, starting now in Season 7. At the same time it’s a tricky subject where saying too much, too little or nothing at all, will affect perception in ways not always predictable and sensible.
Fair play and the integrity of our players have always been a top priority at Embark. With THE FINALS heading towards its first major at Dreamhack 2025 with a $100,000 prize pool, the stakes are even higher. The cheat landscape is ever evolving, from simple scripts and applications to more advanced kernel-drivers, physical hardware and AI. This requires innovative solutions from Anti-Cheat and the team is working hard to build a safe environment where you can trust that you and your opponents play on equal and fair terms. More on this in future posts.
You might be wondering how you can help. Please continue to use the in-game reporting feature with as many details as possible. In addition to this please continue sending feedback. We are not always able to reply, but we always listen.
/Chim