The Finals is hurting after losing 88% of its initial PS5 player base The Finals has seen a considerable PS5 player count drop in the six months since its PlayStation launch, resulting in disappointment from publisher Nexon.Lee Brady Published 17 May 2024 FollowtopicsTHE FINALSEmbark StudiosFree to PlayPlayStation 5Lee Brady Back in December 2023, The Finals trophies were made available to earn on PS5 following a surprise announcement at The Game Awards 2023. One of the few free PS5 games that truly makes the most of the console's hardware, the online shooter's launch garnered a lot of positive attention from players and media. However, six months later, The Finals PS5 player count drop has hit a low of 88% as the game struggles to maintain its momentum.The Finals' low player count draws scrutiny from publisher NexonIn its fiscal report for Q1 2024, publisher Nexon singled out the "lower-than-expected performance" of The Finals as the reason why revenue gains from its other games weren't higher. According to the report, the game's second season of content delivered "lower-than-expected retention and revenue," resulting in developer Embark Studios being linked with Nexon's Live Operations team to "understand and address the key issues."via Nexon.I was surprised to hear the game was having such a rough time, so I decided to use our exclusive data sample of 3.1 million active PS5 and PS4 players (courtesy of GameInsights) to get a better sense of what had happened. Sure enough, the issue was plain as day looking at the data: The Finals had lost 88.29% of its debut PS5 player count just six months after launch.Player retention is vital for the continued live-service games like The Finals to make money. That's why it's concerning that, according to recent player count data, the game has continued to trend downward in PS5 player retention. Between March 14, 2024, and April 10, 2024, The Finals lost 31.49% of its player base. The next month, between April 10, 2024, and May 13, 2024, the game lost another 20.8% of its active PS5 player count.Despite that, it's worth pointing out that despite The Finals losing a big chunk of its PlayStation player base, the game is far from unpopular on PS5. According to our PlayStation Chart, The Finals is still the 61st most popular PS5 game for the week ending Sunday, May 13, 2024. While the shooter is certainly struggling to keep pace with games like Fortnite and Overwatch 2, it's still seeing more players on PS5 than popular online games like DayZ, The Elder Scrolls Online, and Stumble Guys.Perhaps that's not as high a spot on the chart as publisher Nexon would like — they're likely looking to compete with bigger games like Destiny 2, or even just better established games like Warframe. Still, for a debut PS5 launch from a new development studio, I think it's seeing a higher active player engagement than you would expect from any other title in that scenario. It's certainly doing better with PS5 players than other live-service games like February 2024's PS Plus hit Foamstars (now ranked 403rd in the same week).Top 15 PS5 online shooters by player count (week ending May 12, 2024)#1 — Fortnite (ranked #1 on the PlayStation Chart)#2 — Call of Duty HQ (Modern Warfare II and III) (ranked #3)#3 — Helldivers 2 (ranked #6)#4 — Apex Legends (ranked #9)#5 — Destiny 2 (ranked #10)#6 — Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege (ranked #11)#7 — Overwatch 2 (ranked #12)#8 — Call of Duty Black Ops III (ranked #32)#9 — Warframe (ranked #35)#10 — Battlefield 2042 (ranked #46)#11 — Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War (ranked #47)#12 — The Finals (ranked #61)#13 — Tom Clancy's The Division 2 (ranked #70)#14 — Star Wars Battlefront 2 (ranked #75)#15 — Call of Duty Black Ops 4 (ranked #81)While it's possible that Embark Studios may need to think about what it can do to keep players on board, to me, it sounds like at least half the problem here is heightened expectations on Nexon's part. The live-service market is challenging and fickle, and to expect your glossy new shooter to immediately outrank bigger names like Battlefield 2042 is a bit of a stretch.For the record, Battlefield 2042's PS5 player count was 33.7% higher than The Finals in the week ending Sunday, May 13, 2024. The fact that The Finals is even that close six months after the initial player rush died off — particularly when Battlefield remains the far better established IP — should be massively impressive. It's a shame then that a performance like that is considered below expectation.Still, I suppose that's the risk when you try to match the production value of some of the best PS5 multiplayer games on the market right out of the gate. Here's hoping The Finals' developers continue to find new ways to keep PS5 players interested. In the meantime, let us know how you've been enjoying the game down in the comments below.Chart compiled using gameplay data from over 3.1 million active PlayStation accounts (not just TrueTrophies accounts). Chart information is copyright GameInsights. Regarding this data:When an account opens a game, this is registered as a game being played. Accounts can only register a game once per week.Our data is good for suggesting general trends — we represent this using percentages, not numbers.The Finals player drop data made by comparing player data from week ending Sunday, December 11, 2023, to week ending Sunday, May 12, 2024.More THE FINALS stories: Most popular PS5 games — Black Ops 3 inexplicably grows 15% bigger Most popular PS5 games — Dragon’s Dogma 2 hype bites Rise of the Ronin Most popular PS5 games — Hit PS Plus action game tops Spider-Man 2 DLC Most popular PS5 games — FF7 Rebirth’s debut can’t top Helldivers 2 Most popular PS5 games — Need for Speed leads new PS Plus Extra games PlayStation 5 Written by Lee BradyStaff Writer Lee keeps one eye on the future (Astro Bot), one eye on the past (PS1, PS2, and PS3 games), and his secret third eye on junk he really likes (Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Sonic). A PlayStation fan for over 25 years, he loves replaying classic games via PS Plus.