The Finals Animation Director Mikael Högström opens up about the game's future, their take on battle royale, pay-to-win features, and more (Exclusive)

The Finals recently completed its one-year anniversary, and right before Season 5 launched, I had a chance to speak with Mikael Högström, the Animation Director of the viral FPS launched by Embark Studios. As an avid FPS fan, I've been playing The Finals since the launch, and needless to say, the game is one of the best immersive experiences in the multiplayer FPS genre right now.

As an added surprise, the game's Community Lead, Oscar Lundberg, answered one of the questions, as I was fascinated by the community engagement that The Finals has been doing for a year.

In the interview, Mikael Högström opened up about the vision behind The Finals, what they think about the battle royale genre, whether The Finals has a place for that in the future, what they think about pay-to-win features in the video game industry, and more.

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The Finals creators on what the future holds, community engagement, battle royale, and much more

Q. THE FINALS has been one of the best FPS titles this year, and the game is still going strong with Season 5 knocking on our door. What's new in the upcoming season that will stand out?

Mikael Högström: First off, thank you for the kind words! We have an incredibly hard-working and talented team, and we are very proud of what we have achieved in this first year! As for Season 5, we’re introducing two new weapons and gadgets that are truly unique and stand out — which for sure will shake up the game. We’re also adding things like clubs, which offer THE FINALS players an additional way to connect and play together.

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Q. THE FINALS developers have shown a good connection with the community. While other triple AAA titles fail to provide results based on community feedback, THE FINALS has shown how to become a part of them. What's the secret behind the success?

Oscar Lundberg: Guest answer from Oscar Lundberg here, the Community Lead. Thank you so much for those kind words. I am so, so proud of the community we have today. From the players in our Discord server to our incredible content creators and our super dedicated competitive community — I feel nothing but pride. How we got here was not necessarily an easy path, but one that was worth it.

From the very beginning, we made sure that the community team was integrated as part of the game team, which ensures all the input from our players (be it through support or community) is heard at the point in time and in the rooms where it matters. This is only possible in a studio where the player, and their experience, are genuinely important and respected, something which is nothing but true at Embark.

We also have a game team that actively engages with the community themselves, as scary as that might be, and a game team that actively plays our game — making sure we have a shared experience with our players!

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Q: Call of Duty has Warzone; even rumor suggests Battlefield will launch a free-to-play Battle Royale with the new game. While THE FINALS remains unique for its own playstyle and game modes, is there any chance that players would see a battle royale mode in the near future?

Mikael Högström: The Battle Royale genre is an interesting one for sure, but when we look at which game modes we might want to add to THE FINALS in the future, they need to be in line with our pillars. THE FINALS is known for its destruction and dynamism, and the game modes we add shouldn't just fit with those — they should be enhanced by them!

We can look at Powershift, for example, our take on “push the objective”. Thanks to the destructive systems we have in place, we can have the platform move through the actual buildings of the map, and not only does it fit well together — the destruction adds something to, and enhances the experience. When we consider any potential future game modes for THE FINALS, this needs to be true.

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Q: Season 4 introduced Sponsors, which was an innovative way for players to earn exciting rewards. Is it going to be a part of the game in the long run?

Mikael Högström: Absolutely! The Sponsors have actually been here from the very start, on billboards in the arenas and in our earliest trailers. They will play a big part in the story and world of THE FINALS in the long run, and they already have.

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Q: What does the future hold for THE FINALS? Is there ever going to be paid DLC content? Or all the content will always remain free to play?

Mikael Högström: The future of THE FINALS has so much in store, we truly have only scratched the surface of what we see THE FINALS become over the years to come. On the topic of paid content, I can only go back to what we said earlier about future game modes — whatever we add to THE FINALS needs to fit with THE FINALS.

To some degree, we already have paid content through our premium battle pass and the Multibucks bundles, but, THE FINALS is a free-to-play game.

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Q: What do you think about pay-to-win features in some games recently? Is it something needed for the game to survive in the long run, or does it go against the gamer’s ethos?

Mikael Högström: We can only speak about THE FINALS, and THE FINALS is not, and will not be a pay-to-win game.

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Check out our other related news and guides:

• The Finals Season 5 patch notes: New map Bernal, new weapons, balance changes, and more
• What is Clubs in The Finals and how does it work?
• How does Gifting work in The Finals?