Developers of the popular shooter The Finals have released a New Year's update. It has added Christmas items to the game, which can be obtained for free in the in-game store. Additionally, winter has come to the Monaco map: snow has fallen, snowmen and a Christmas tree have appeared. 

The update is relatively small — besides the snow-covered Monaco map, it includes two cosmetic sets. One set is free and includes a legendary skin for a grenade, a keychain, a sticker, and a New Year's hat.

The second, paid set includes customization items for the character, such as a sweater and reindeer antlers.

The update is already out on all platforms. The sets in the store and the snow-covered version of the map will be available until January 3.

The FinalsImage credit: youtube.com/@jag_xoxo

Apart from the New Year's atmosphere, The Finals also received its first major patch based on player feedback. The authors reduced the bullet spread for the AKM, weakened the overly popular mines, C4 explosives, and RPG-7, and also fixed models getting stuck in foam from the Goo Gun.

The anti-cheat system has been improved. Last week, one of the updates made changes to the player matchmaking system. It was reported that the game had become too difficult. It's possible that the problems arose not only because stronger opponents were being matched, but also because of the first wave of cheaters on the servers after launch.

Immediately after the unexpected release, messages about cheaters became a popular topic of discussion among players. The Finals uses the Easy Anti-Cheat system, which is not particularly useful.

The FinalsImage credit: youtube.com/@Epitomy

In a statement on the Discord server, one of the developers claimed that EAC is not the only solution for protecting the game. The developers prepared another system, but a technical issue prevented them from effectively banning cheaters. Embark Studios representative Dusty Gustafsson assured that his colleagues have strengthened the protection against cheats.

Update 1.4.0 with the solution to the problems is now available.

Main image: julsa.fr