THE FINALS Help Center

When launching THE FINALS you may see a message in the bottom left corner saying “Preloading Shaders 0-100%”.
This is a normal part of the startup process and does not mean the game is downloading files or in a loading screen. By preloading shaders we prepare the graphics so your matches can run smoothly once you start playing.

What does “Preloading Shaders” mean?

Shaders are small graphics programs your system uses to display lighting, shadows, particles, and destruction effects.

When preloading shaders the game is:

• preparing graphical effects for your hardware

• building a local graphics cache

• optimizing performance

Why does it take time?

Preloading shaders may take several minutes, especially if:

• You are launching THE FINALS for the first time

• THE FINALS was recently updated

• Your graphics drivers were updated

• You changed graphics settings

• The shader cache was cleared

After it completes once after one of the situations above, future preloads are usually much faster.

Can I close THE FINALS while this is happening?

You can, but we advise you not to.
Closing THE FINALS when it’s preloading shaders will interrupt the process and cause it to restart from the beginning the next time you launch the game.
We recommend allowing it to finish fully before closing THE FINALS or connecting to a game.

The percentage is not going up, is it frozen?

Usually not. Even if the progress appears slow, the preloading is still working in the background.

You should only troubleshoot if:

• The percentage of the preload has not changed for 10–20 minutes

• Your system shows no activity (frozen screen)

• The game becomes unresponsive (a pop-up from Windows: “THE FINALS are not responding”)

In those cases, restart the game or your PC or PlayStation/Xbox and try again.

If you still get stuck during the preloading on PC:

• Wait a few minutes first:

  • The progress bar may pause while larger groups of files are prepared. Short pauses are normal.

• Close background programs:

  • Applications that heavily use the CPU or GPU (web browsers, recording software, overlays, or other games) can prevent the shaders from preloading properly. Close them and try again.
    

• Update your graphics drivers:

  • Outdated or corrupted graphic drivers can interfere with preloading shaders. Install the latest drivers for your GPU and launch THE FINALS again.
    
    

If you still get stuck during the preloading on PlayStation/Xbox:

• Wait a few minutes first:

  • The progress bar may pause while larger groups of files are prepared. Short pauses are normal.
    

• Do not repeatedly close the game:

  • Restarting the game many times will restart the process from the beginning and make it take even longer.
    

• Close other games or apps:

  • Suspend or close other running applications before launching THE FINALS again.
    

• Fully restart the console:

  • Close THE FINALS

  • Turn off the console completely (do not use Rest/Sleep Mode)

  • Unplug the power cable for at least 60 seconds

  • Plug it back in and launch THE FINALS again
    

• Make sure the update finished installing:

  • Check your downloads/updates to confirm THE FINALS is fully installed and no updates are incomplete, failed or paused.

Why is this necessary?

THE FINALS features large-scale destruction and dynamic lighting. Preparing these effects in advance helps prevent stuttering and freezing during gameplay.

Without preloading shaders you may experience:

• Frame drops

• Texture issues

• Stuttering

• Freezes

Preloading shaders helps ensure smoother performance during all matches in THE FINALS.

Still having problems?

If preloading never completes or happens every time you launch the game, please contact our support and include:

• When did the issue occur

• Your platform (PC/Playstation or Xbox)

• Any recent updates or driver changes

This helps us investigate possible issues more quickly.