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The Finals’ new Season 3 teaser is giving us Terminator vibes

The Finals Season 3 will mark a drastic tone shift for Embark’s FPS game, as this new teaser alludes to a massive game-show overhaul.

The Finals Season 3: An image of Ariad from CNS

The Finals Season 3 is gaining momentum ahead of its launch, as Embark Studios rolls out a series of secretive teasers in the PS5 and Xbox shooter. There’s a sinister threat looming in the distance for The Finals players, but it doesn’t seem like an enemy you’ll be able to fight head-on. Just like Skynet in The Terminator franchise, a rogue AI is seemingly becoming self-aware.

At the start of The Finals Season 2, Embark introduced the nefarious hacker group CNS into the FPS game. Their debut brought disruption to each multiplayer game mode available, with wicked new gadgets like the Dematerializer and Gateway Grenades reshaping the meta in glorious ways. Now, it appears that CNS might not be the only culprits threatening to completely reboot the game show. The new clip features The Finals’ announcers panicking, as Scotty says “we have no choice June, the showrunners are losing control, and something needs to be done.”

Crucially, Scotty mentions that “we built that thing, it can’t stop us.” This AI can also “take us anywhere” and it “won’t just sit back and let him go through with this”, according to June. However, it is the “him” in question has me intrigued. We’re yet to see any of the in-game sponsors represented by a character model, such as OSPUZE energy drinks’ CEO Sofia Petronelle.

Perhaps one of the sponsors is going rogue, as these companies are responsible for helping shape The Finals’ digital world. If they have a hand in the show directly, then maybe it was them who helped craft this AI enemy. If you’ll humor me for a moment, there’s always a chance that it could all be a fake out from CNS. After all, the true meaning of CNS is Central Nervous System. While I, and many other PS5 and Xbox players, have assumed that CNS is a human-led organization, it is possible that it is entirely co-ordinated by a Terminator-style sentient AI.

However, the Season 2 battle pass did give us a look at Ariad, an operative within CNS’ ranks. The battle pass skin obscures his facial features, but the game’s seasonal artwork does reveal a better look at him. Whatever it might be, it is likely that The Finals Season 3 will be revealed at Summer Game Fest, which Embark is slated to attend.

The studio is already teasing a myriad of improvements for the shooter, new Ranked Leagues tiers, but I’m hoping this easter egg is solved before Season 3 launches. For now, you can dive in for a 10x XP boost as you finish off the Season 2 battle pass.

The Finals Season 3: An image of Ariad from CNS in The Finals.

In other gaming news, XDefiant’s latest leaks are a treat for Rayman fans, and Black Ops 6 is reportedly bringing back a very divisive Zombies feature.

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