Today marks seven years since we started Final Weapon on June 24, 2019. It feels like it has been a lifetime in many ways, but we are also just now getting started in many areas. It’s my third year releasing a letter or sorts on our anniversary (feel free to read Year 5 and Year 6), and once again, all I can really say is thank you to our audience, our partners, and our team for continuing to support Final Weapon all these years later. We cannot do anything without you, and I am eternally grateful for your support. This past year was our best in many ways. Some of the big highlights include partnering with Metacritic as of July 2025, surpassing 11,000 subscribers on the YouTube channel, and blowing past our review goals. I’ll touch on these more in-depth below, but really, Year 7 has been tremendous in so many ways.
Raising the Standard
I mentioned in our 6th Anniversary post last year that 2025 was tracking well. To reflect on that, we closed the year up 314% in Sessions, 237% in Pageviews, and 118% in Review output. Over 8,400 articles were written, which was a 57% increase over the previous year. 2026 has shown no signs of slowing down, as we’re currently outpacing 2025’s article and review output already this year.
Each day, we’ve continued to fight the never-ending battle with Google. Every month brings a new update that can completely shift our traffic one way or the other. We’re persevering and continuing our work regardless, but this is an unfortunate reality we continue to face. Google has made it clear it is prioritizing AI, and as the biggest search engine, that takes away considerable traffic from Final Weapon. Even with these threats, our core audience has been more engaged than ever, and I’m confident we’ll continue to expand moving forward as long as we keep up the work we are doing.
Our staff has continued to grow in major ways this year, with Dante, Kelvin, Rafael, Loki, and Theo joining us over the last few months. I am so thrilled to have each of them on the team, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading their reviews and watching their videos! It is hard to describe just how appreciative and proud I am of each member of our staff, top to bottom. Being an independent outlet comes with so many challenges, and the fact that we collectively can all work a job, go to school, then come home and create reviews and coverage for Final Weapon is a testament to how hard our staff works to make the best content we can.
Looking to this next year, we’ll continue to deliver the nonsense-free news we’re best known for. We have triple-downed on anime and manga coverage once again, and we will look to keep growing there wherever possible. The same goes for games, where everything within our niche is covered at lightning speed. During the Summer Game Fest season, our team covered over 300 news articles from June 5 to June 9. A huge shout-out to Soul, Saras, and our news contributors for crushing it day in and day out.
One of the ways Final Weapon will commit to even more coverage this next year is through events. We attended Summer Game Fest for the third year in a row, with our sole representative writing over 20 previews and interviews across the website. This year, I am excited to share that Final Weapon will be in attendance at both Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show for the very first time, and both of these events will bring all sorts of coverage to our audience.
Additionally, expect to continue to see more reviews and original features. We are committed to reviewing over 300 games this year, and so far, we’re on pace to meet that goal. The more games we can highlight, the more opportunities our audience has to learn about the amazing creations released each week. This isn’t possible without our staff, who are always willing to check out what’s next. Alex, Chris, and Matheus deserve a quick shout here, as all three have reviewed games throughout the last year across numerous genres, helping us keep up with the constant flow of new releases.
Regarding features, expect to see more in Year 8. We’re always trying to grow this area, and there are a lot of great ideas right now that will likely start rolling out in the next few months. I’m aware of the demand for more thought pieces and originals here on the site, and that is a priority for us heading into this next year of operations.
Overall, I am very proud of the work we’ve done throughout the last year here at finalweapon.net. We face more challenges than ever, whether the threat of AI, traffic fluctuations, or even balancing jobs, but we released more than ever in Year 7 and blew past any expectations. This team is committed to growing Final Weapon as much as we can, and we’ll continue that mission every day in Year 8.
Rising to the Occasion
Summer Game Fest 2026 marked two years since we launched the Final Weapon YouTube channel. In that time period, we’ve amassed over 11,400 subscribers, well north of 2,000,000 views, and thousands of comments. I think to myself at least once a week, “Why didn’t we start this sooner?” when it comes to the channel, but alas, I’m so proud of the work we’ve put in here. I oversee both the website and YouTube, and while I could not have imagined that two years ago, we have quickly established ourselves and built a great community over there.
In Year 7, we grew the channel by 5,000 subscribers, and that was spearheaded by our approach to original content. We consistently turn our written reviews into videos or shorts, offering our audience another way to experience our written content. One essential part of YouTube, in my eyes, has been building an original catalog of content based on series and games within our niche. When I wrote my letter last year, we had three original series established: Under The Plate (Final Fantasy VII), Beyond The Conduit (Xeno), and The Lost Pages (Kingdom Hearts). Each of these has flourished over the last year, with 100 episodes combined released to date.
However, Year 7 brought multiple new projects we’re really proud of. This includes the debut of In The Moonlight (Type-Moon), Recollection of Evil (Resident Evil), Unending Horizons (Final Fantasy XIV), and a full push on Switch Point, our Nintendo-focused podcast. I aim for us to continue growing each of these, in addition to the three series listed above, in Year 8. These are all series we deeply care about, and it’s been wonderful to connect with and grow communities through each of these series on the channel. We’ve been able to bring new voices on the channel, such as with Ryuji and Gambit debuting Unending Horizons and Dante in Recollection of Evil, and we’ll continue to do so moving forward.
Beyond this, we debuted our very first limited series – SeeD Archives (Final Fantasy VIII). This is a new type of content for us that features a definitive endpoint. We’re currently through six episodes, and the last two are planned to be released across the next three weeks. As a concept, we’ll be leaning into limited series harder in Year 8. Another one is just around the corner, so please stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.
We’re always experimenting and delivering new content on YouTube. Thank you for your support here over the last year, and I cannot wait for our team to deliver some very neat projects here in the coming months. Our video team, comprised of Rain, Payne, and Gambit, works tirelessly to bring as much content to the channel as possible each week, and I hope you’ve enjoyed what we came up with in Year 7.
To Year 8 We Go
As we head into Year 8, Final Weapon will not be slowing down. If anything, we’re going to accelerate and continue releasing even more content that will surpass what’s thought possible for our team. I shared just a glimpse at our plans above, but if you love what we’re doing now, just wait to see what we have planned for Year 8. In an era of uncertainty, there are a lot of questions regarding the future of games media. We aren’t going anywhere, and Final Weapon will never use AI. Expect to see us deliver more, better, and stronger articles and videos with each passing year.
Running Final Weapon is a lot. I joke with friends that it’s my second full-time job, but it really is. I dedicate dozens of hours a week across the website and channel, and the same goes for all of our staff. The sleepless nights and limited free time are worth it because I believe in what we’re building here. I continue to be amazed by what I hear from our audience about how appreciative they are of Final Weapon and the work we do.
Concluding things here, I want to give a huge thank you to our partners across all the media and industries we work with. None of this happens without you, and our team is so grateful for the support you give us year in and year out. To my staff, thank you for being so hardworking and dedicated to the vision we have here. Final Weapon has continued to defy all expectations because of the collective work we’ve put in. I can’t wait to reflect on Year 8 with you all next year. And finally, to our audience, thank you so much for supporting us for seven years. Final Weapon has existed for almost a third of my life, and I continue to be blown away by the support you give us with every article, video, and post.
Thanks for reading this year’s anniversary post, and thank you for supporting Final Weapon. I’m looking forward to a tremendous Year 8.
