Final Fight

Perfectionist former e-sports gamer turned developer RUBIN goes for a beta test in his latest game FINAL FIGHT, an immersive multiplayer VR battle royale set on a tropical island. Alone in the game, Rubin has shootouts with bots. His pushy head programmer MARK turns the game's reality sensors up to 50%, making Rubin feel in-game damage more realistically. As Mark unleashes bombs and poison gas in the game, a bot kills Rubin. Exiting the game in his shabby warehouse HQ's VR pod, Rubin finds he’s in actual pain. He and Mark worry that since the VR link communicates directly with the brain, excessive realism could convince a player's brain to deal with real-world damage based on in-game damage. They consider putting off an upcoming private demonstration game for the top 50 e-sports gamers, but demanding investor liaison DOUG insists the investors need to see proof the game will work. Mark puts a software limiter on the game’s realism filter, capping it at 30%. Meanwhile, pushy tech reporter BRETT (30) interviews the cutthroat owner of the world’s largest game developer, Mr. KOEN (60). Brett asks about Rubin, who worked for Koen but left to develop Final Fight on his own after Koen’s company refused to develop it. Koen feigns respect for Rubin, then says Final Fight has a serious bug. Later at a pub, Brett interviews Rubin's bitter former coworker ADAM (35), who says he and Rubin began Final Fight together, but when Adam suggested Koen pass on it because of a problem with the realism filter, Rubin left to finish the game alone despite being aware of the bug. Unseen by Adam and Brett, a pair of shady MEN IN BLACK eavesdrop on them. Rubin kicks off the weekend-long Final Fight event at a hotel. Among the invited top 50 players in the world are hotshot SPOODERMAN, cocky HOLLOW45, femme fatale G-SPOT, mysterious loner ASSASSIN (35), and Rubin’s compassionate former girlfriend KATE (32), who avoids Rubin's notice. Rubin introduces the game, then spends the day getting players 3D-scanned for avatars of themselves. That night, Kate goes to dinner with Mark and says she only came because Mark invited her. Mark encourages her to reconcile with Rubin, but she says left him because she felt like she was holding him back professionally. The next morning, Rubin's approached by the Men in Black, who issue veiled threats to sell his tech to an unnamed buyer. Rubin refuses. At the hotel, Rubin teaches the players how to play Final Fight. They form squads to help each other get to the end of the game’s battle royale, though they know only one player can win overall. Spooderman, Hollow45, and G-Spot team-up. Assassin refuses to join a team. Meanwhile, the Men in Black approach Adam with a proposal: help them ruin Rubin's event, thereby making the tech seem like a failure so their employer can easily acquire it. If he does, they'll make Adam the CEO of the company. Adam confirms that all they want him to do is sabotage Rubin's software, and agrees. That night, Kate visits Rubin at home. She reveals she'll be playing in the event under the new gamer tag she adopted after their breakup. He's still bitter over their split but accepts her participation. The next day, Mark convinces Rubin to play in the event. The players enter Final Fight's VR, getting dropped all over the game map. Spooderman, Hollow45, and G-Spot start working together, scrounging for weapons, ammo, and body armor. Rubin's annoyed when Kate finds him and suggests teaming up, but agrees. Players are assaulted by bots, and fight each other. Assassin makes the first in-game player kill. Once killed, players are ejected from the VR and watch a feed of the game on monitors in a party in the real world. Assassin radios the Men in Black, waiting for them to give him the signal to execute a secret plan. While players fight, Kate and Rubin drive to a remote waterfall, which Kate recognizes as a recreation of a spot from one of their dates. More players are killed in-game. Rubin and Kate survive an assault from a player team. Kate impresses Rubin with her skills. Assassin keeps killing players. In the real world, the Men in Black storm Mark's control suite, taze him, and put Adam in charge of the game. They tell Adam to turn up Rubin's reality setting, hoping their employer will be able to buy the company very cheaply if Rubin’s in-game death causes him to die in the real world. Adam balks at the idea of actually hurting someone, but the Men in Black threaten him into compliance, then tell Assassin to go after Rubin. In-game, Rubin realizes there's been a change to his reality setting and he no longer has contact with Mark. More players are killed and forced to join the viewing party in the real world. In-game, Rubin asks Kate why she left him. She says she loved him enough that she wanted to leave him for his own good, and before they started to hate each other. He says he still wants her in his life, and asks her to dinner after the game. She agrees. They're are attacked by more players. Rubin realizes his reality settings are so high he'll die in real life if he dies in-game. Kate chastises him for allowing the game to happen with such a dangerous bug. Since Mark is the only person with access to that setting, Rubin worries Mark is trying to kill him. Kate tries to log out to look into it. Adam disables the logout option, trapping her in the game until it's over. Rubin remembers the Men in Black and suspects treachery beyond Mark. He and Kate are attacked again. As Rubin's nearly killed in-game, his body is bloodied and hurt in the real world. Kate heals him in-game, and he realizes he has to win the battle royale if he hopes to live. Kate's shot in-game. Rubin heals her, but in doing so transmits the code that altered his reality settings, accidentally condemning her to the same realism bug. He promises to find a way to keep her alive. Most of the remaining players are eliminated. In the real world, Adam tries to back out of the scheme but the Men in Black insist on seeing real-world casualties. G-Spot and Hollow45 die in-game and join the viewing party. Assassin kills Spooderman, the last player between him and Rubin and Kate, then heads for his quarry. Spooderman and the other viewers are disappointed when the game feed is muted by the Men in Black to keep the players from hearing Rubin and Kate discussing what’s going on. Rubin and Kate find themselves in a zone where poison gas can roll in, and try to escape. Assassin catches them and admits he's been sent to kill Rubin. Rubin wounds him then heals him, transmitting the reality setting bug. Rubin tries to get Assassin to call off the mission since he can now die too. Assassin refuses. Rubin leaves him to die in the gas in-game, causing him to die in the VR pod in the real world. Spooderman realizes something's weird and goes to Mark's suite, catching the Men in Black. They flee. Adam gives control back to Mark, who tries to lower the reality settings. Realizing they're about to die in-game, Rubin steps into the gas, sacrificing himself so Kate wins the battle royale by default and the game stops. She exits her VR pod and rushes to Rubin to find he survived, as Mark changed the settings in the nick of time. Unaware of the deadly bug, the other gamers celebrate and look forward to playing again. Mark and Kate reconcile and kiss.