Season eight of THE FINALS launched shortly after the open qualifiers for The Grand Major 2025 and introduced Smooth Destruction—a significant update to the destruction system, making it more cinematic and authentic than ever before.
Smooth Destruction improves impact destruction from collapsing structures in THE FINALS, allowing them to trigger destructive chain reactions and create new ways to play. This feature was introduced during The Grand Major 2025, and in a Q&A with design director Matt Lowe, Dot Esports asked about the team’s approach regarding timing major updates with esports competitions.
THE FINALS is unpredictable—it’s a game show where anything can happen and every match is different. That extends to esports, where players compete in a “sandbox where anything can happen.” Lowe said this is exactly what competitors and spectators should anticipate when it comes to systemic updates.
“We’re also just as much of a casual game as we are an esports game, and that means we’re dedicated to maintaining our schedule of changes and have no intentions of straying from our core pillars in order to accommodate esports,” he added.
Lowe admitted this approach isn’t completely lawless, though. Smooth Destruction may not be as radical a change as it might seem, but the team is mindful of introducing changes that can impact ongoing events and tournaments, without binding their plans for the game to any competitions.
‘Sandbox where anything can happen:’ THE FINALS dev weighs in on timing systemic updates with esports events
