This is the number of players who are playing The Finals, and it’s incredible

Embark Studios, the studio behind the shooter The Finals, has revealed the new number of players playing the game, and the number is absolutely incredible.

Releasing a shooter in today’s times is a risk that requires a lot of calculations. Creating something new enough to attract the audience, but familiar enough to make them stay, is really difficult. Almost no one achieves it. Almost everyone who does it are already established studios that build upon well-established formulas that have cost millions and have gone through a very visible semi-public iteration process. That’s why it’s surprising when someone manages to do it seemingly from scratch, like The Finals.

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Because numbers don’t lie. In less than a month since its launch, The Finals has already surpassed ten million players worldwide. This has been confirmed by its developer, Embark Studios, who have achieved this milestone just a couple of weeks after releasing the final version of the game during The Game Awards.

There are many reasons for having succeeded in this way. To begin with, it has had a constant exposure throughout the year with successive betas that have allowed the public to become familiar with it. The marketing campaigns have been measured and very effective. But besides, the game is very fun, with a different touch compared to the competition, by betting on the dynamism and destructibility of the scenarios to offer a game that is fun both when we play competitively and in a more casual way.

All this helps that the team is very involved in continuing with its development. According to The Finals’ executive producer, Rob Runesson, “we will continue to improve and expand the experience, with the guarantee that we will surprise our community over the next few years.” Something that gives confidence that this will be just the first record that the game will surpass.

The Finals is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC. The game can be played completely for free, with in-game microtransactions and battle pass included.

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Can a game funded by a major developer be considered indie? The Game Awards think so

And people, of course, have complained saying that even ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ is a more independent game than ‘Dave the Diver’. It’s nothing against the game itself, but rather the lack of definition of the term.

What is ‘indie’? The question has been among us almost since the word started to become fashionable. In the past, it was clear: it was a game made by an independent producer, as the name itself indicates, with fewer resources but more imagination. However, lately, and to avoid missing out, major studios have been experimenting with the ‘indie style’ (pixel art, retro music, etc.) to make a profit… And, in the end, what had to happen happened.

By the pending indie

The Game Awards have decided to nominate five games this year for best indie game of the year: ‘Cocoon’, ‘Dredge’, ‘Sea of Stars’, ‘Viewfinder’, and… ‘Dave the Diver’. And there lies the problem. The last game is the first from a small studio called Mintrocket. And Mintrocket is a subsidiary of Nexon, a giant South Korean company in the sector. It smells like an indie, tastes like an indie, and seems like an indie, but, from every angle, it’s not an indie.

And people, of course, have complained, saying that even ‘Baldur’s Gate 3‘ is a more independent game than ‘Dave the Diver’. It’s not about the game itself, but about the lack of a clear definition of the term. For years, the nebulous concept of indie has grown so vast that it has blurred its very existence. However, the Game Awards defend their decision, even if it’s with excuses that, frankly, seem far-fetched.

“Does independent mean the game’s budget? Does independent refer to where it was funded? Is it based on the team size? Is it the independent spirit of a game, meaning a smaller, different game? Everyone has their own opinion.” The internet doesn’t quite agree, but Geoff Keighley, president of the association, has added fuel to the fire.

“With ‘Dave the Diver,’ you can argue in any direction. It’s independent in spirit and in being a small game with a relatively small budget, but it’s from a larger entity whereas the rest of the games on this list are from smaller studios. (…) It’s a very complicated matter to have strict rules, so we let people judge for themselves.” In other words, he doesn’t plan to give in while indie developers of other games are banging their heads against a wall.

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