Featured Image Credit: Embark Studios
Topics: Free Games, PlayStation, PlayStation 4, ARC Raiders
ARC Raiders developer and publisher is shutting down one of its games on a major console.
Nothing lasts forever, and all good things must come to an end. Well, unless it’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. As much as we love that Bethesda RPG, I don’t think it will ever stop being ported every time a new console generation arrives (probably).
Multiplayer-focused games must also come to an end at some point. No matter how popular a game is, its servers, quality of life improvements, and new content are not cheap to maintain. It’s why, especially with free-to-play games, microtransactions have a heavy focus on bringing in added revenue.
Yet, even for the once most hyped multiplayer games, the popularity will decline. Even the likes of Fortnite have massive dips in concurrent players, but the folks in charge of that game are masters of reeling players back in.
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Unfortunately, most free-to-play multiplayer games don't have the lure and loyal fanbase that the likes of Fortnite have. So when those player numbers begin to decline, it’s very difficult to bring them back, and as such, sacrifices must be made.
One such game, as brought to our attention by GameSpot, is the free-to-play first-person shooter from Embark Studios, The Finals, which will close down its servers on PlayStation 4 soon. This is the same team that brought us ARC Raiders.
“When Season 10 begins (18 March 2026), we'll be retiring The Finals on PlayStation 4 and focusing our support on current-generation hardware,” read a statement on Twitter.
“We're incredibly grateful to everyone who's been part of the PS4 community. See you in the Arena!”
While closing a server is not much of a surprise, the fact that the PlayStation 4 servers are closing in a matter of months is.
The reason being, is that The Finals was released on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on 7 December 2023.
However, the PlayStation 4 version did not arrive until much later, on 12 December 2024. So the fact that its servers will be closing just over a year later is somewhat surprising.
Thankfully, The Finals has cross-progression for all available platforms.
Meaning, if you stop playing on PlayStation 4 and jump to another platform, you won't lose your progression or in-game purchases.
As for ARC Raiders, given how that game has been received on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, I doubt we’ll have to worry about its servers closing down anytime soon.