The Finals dev explains why aim assist was nerfed in latest patch

Declan Mclaughlin
The Finals

The Finals developer, Embark Studios, added in a new update that nerfed aim assist almost into the ground and one dev took to the game’s Discord to explain the thought process behind the decision.

The Finals players have been calling for a nerf, or some kind of change, to aim assist in the game. The devs have seemingly listened to feedback and addressed the issue in patch 1.4.1.

The update made it so that players using certain weapons will no longer snap onto enemies with their crosshairs. Invisible players will also no longer be the victims of aim assist. And clients using key re-mapping for PC will no longer have access to aim assist, only people playing with controllers.

The community has, so far, welcomed the changes and is overjoyed that Embark has addressed these complaints so early in the game’s lifecycle.

The Finals dev reveals why aim assist changes happened

Dusty Gustafsson, a customer support lead at Embark, explained in a Discord post how the developer came to make the changes to aim assist.

Gustafsson said the team took the time to look at the data of players using a mouse and keyboard versus controller players and found that aim assist gave controller players an advantage.

“We don’t make changes based on the volume of voices, but on the information, we can see within our own tools,” the customer support lead said on Discord.

The Embark employee also said the changes will be tested “again and again. Because balancing is never done.”

The message was posted on Reddit where players praised Embark for its decision and transparency.

“Glad Embark made the right decision, even with all those controller players trying to downplay the insane AA like it wasn’t a big deal,” one Reddit user said.

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About The Author

Based in Indiana, Declan McLaughlin is an esports reporter for Dexerto Esports covering Valorant, LoL and anything else that pops up. Previously an editor and reporter at Upcomer, Declan is often found reading investigative stories or trying to do investigations himself. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Indiana University. You can contact him at declan.mclaughlin@dexerto.com.