The Finals is the debut title from Embark, a studio that sprung up after being founded by senior ex-Battlefield developers. It entered an open beta phase on October 26th and instantly skyrocketed in popularity, topping charts the world over as players became all too eager to get a taste of The Finals’ competitive action. It’s a unique shooter with some innovative elements, and the entire creation seems centrally themed around it becoming a top-tier esports game in the future.

In The Finals, players enter arenas and fight it out against other teams, all vying to secure immense sums of cash. And when I say ‘arenas’, I mean ‘arenas‘ – they’re enormous stadiums filled to bursting with spectators, and the ‘maps’ are highly destructible environments sitting at the hearts of those stadiums. There are in-game commentators designed to make it feel like you’re watching esports action unfold as you play, and with character types and abilities at play, it can get pretty tactical at times.

Is The Finals the next big thing in esports?

It’s Competitive By Nature

Image Credit: Embark Studios

Let’s look at it as fundamentally as possible, okay? There is a multiplayer-focused game that’s competitive by nature – that’s the perfect foundation for an esports game. It features AI-powered, in-game commentators that break down the action as it plays out, it encourages strategic team-based combat, and given the destructibility of the maps, no two games will ever be the same. It’s high-octane, has an obvious skill gap, and with the mix of characters available, different playstyles are openly empowered.

Here’s one of the leading game modes in The Finals: Cashout.

In Cashout, small teams (3v3v3v3) fight to loot ‘vaults’, securing large sums of cash that they then deposit in ‘cashout sites’ scattered around the maps. At the same time, they’re trying to stop other teams from successfully securing cash. It’s almost like Capture the Flag at times, trying to defend a vault that’s being looted while also trying to steal from an enemy’s vault. It’s an immensely fast-paced game driven by ability-based elements, such as:

Heavy-set characters can ram down obstacles
Jump-pads throw enemies to the rooftops in seconds
Agile-build characters boast temporary invisibility powers
Healing mechanics encourage players to support their team

It’s already proving to be a massive hit with prospective fans the world over, and hours after it went into open beta, it topped a quarter of a million peak players on Steam alone.

Related: The Finals is a New Free-to-Play Shooter

Is That Enough?

Is it enough for a game to just be competitive and boast the elements that are conducive to a solid esports experience? From what we can glean, Embark Studios hasn’t leant into the esports scene at all just yet, but there is a ranked mode in the game and there’s evidence that tournaments and leaderboards will be a core part of The Finals. It’s a free-to-play game, which means millions of players will flock to it, provided any teething issues are ironed out, and it ticks availability boxes on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.

The Finals doesn’t have a full 1.0 release date just yet, but the open beta is going extremely well and runs for a few more days, so you’ve still got a chance to check it out.

I’m willing to bet there’s a solid esports future in store for The Finals.

Related: Is The Finals Beta Any Good?