News

THE FINALS’ Prime Time Season Is Live With Solo Showdown and a New Light Playstyle

Monaco, Seoul, and Skyway Stadium have been remastered, while dynamic commentary launches in beta.

0 1 2 minutes read

A contestant in tactical gear holds a weapon against a red background in THE FINALS Prime Time season artwork.

Prime Time went live in THE FINALS on October 20, bringing the game’s biggest destruction update since launch, a 12-player solo mode, and a new Light playstyle. Embark Studios’ Prime Time announcement on Steam also details remastered Arenas, a redesigned HUD and menus, and new progression features.

Solo Showdown and the Infiltrator bring new options

The Infiltrator gives Light contestants three tools. True Sight reveals enemies, Mimic Device lets players disguise themselves as props, and Translocator swaps a player with an object. A deep dive into the Infiltrator covers the new playstyle.

A hands-on Season 12 preview details the tools’ limits and object physics. True Sight reveals enemies through smoke, explosions, and other non-solid obstructions, but solid walls still block its view. Mimic Device gives Light the properties of a disguised object, so opponents can throw or destroy the player as they would a regular prop. Translocator carries an object’s momentum into the swap.

Solo Showdown puts 12 players through three elimination rounds of randomized mini-modes, with every contestant fighting for themselves. The bottom four players are eliminated after each round. Each mini-game gives its lobby a shared build and archetype. Boom Brawl, for example, puts everyone on Light with swords, and eliminated players drop throwable bombs.

Three Arenas get remastered as destruction changes

The season’s arena and destruction overhaul covers Monaco, Seoul, and Skyway Stadium, which have new visual identities, improved traversal, and fresh gameplay opportunities. A Maps deep dive shows the remastered Arenas.

A bright arena courtyard with glass structures, trees, and blue banners.

Structures now take gradual damage and can collapse in more varied ways. Cracks spread from the point of impact, and weakened sections can give way after footsteps or a rumble. Individual pieces keep their physics, so parts of a structure can swing from cables after the rest collapses. The hands-on preview also describes these more granular collapse behaviors.

Improved explosion physics and new debris piles add to the destruction changes, while smoke and gas systems have also been improved. The Dynamism Upgrade deep dive examines those changes.

A first-person view of a concrete arena wall breaking apart in an explosion.

A redesigned HUD, commentary, and new rewards

Prime Time redesigns the HUD and menus for clearer information, with customizable Quick Settings. The HUD and UI deep dive covers the interface changes.

Dynamic Commentary launches in beta. Scotty can call Contestants by name after standout plays such as a team wipe or revive streak.

Season 12 also gives Light 25 more health and removes 25 health from Heavy, moving both closer to Medium. Sponsors receive cinematic introductions and more themed customization. The Sponsor Journey introduces a Handler, challenges, secrets, and more free rewards. The Prime Time Battle Pass adds cosmetics, Multibucks, and other rewards. Its Ultimate tier includes dynamic Elite Skins and additional items, but is available only until the season ends. Embark’s Sponsor Journey deep dive covers the new progression track, and the visual Prime Time patch notes provide a fuller look at the season.

Which Prime Time addition do you think will change match decisions most, the Infiltrator’s tools, Solo Showdown, or the remastered Arenas? Follow the season’s developments on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.

The Finals is the world’s first Dynamism Shooter, a free-to-play, fast-paced, physics-driven, first-person shooter set on the stage of the biggest Gameshow of the future! Fight for Fans and fortune in fully-destructible, virtual Arenas that guarantee no two rounds will ever play the same!