Remedy has outlined what’s subsequent for its multiplayer Management spin-off, FBC: Firebreak, promising huge adjustments.
It comes after Remedy posted a candid assertion final month acknowledging “not all the pieces had gone properly” following FBC: Firebreak’s mid-June launch.
FBC: Firebreak launched on June 17 as a paid sport in addition to straight into Xbox Game Cross and PlayStation Plus. Calling the launch an “thrilling and nerve-wracking time,” Remedy told gamers it had heard suggestions “loudly and clearly,” and admitted “it is clear there are options that want to enhance, and they’ll enhance.”
Since launch, the studio has launched “4 patches that enhance the sport and partly deal with [player] suggestions. Now that the sport is reside, our neighborhood performs an enormous half in shaping the way forward for the expertise. That is simply the begin.”
Remedy then warned that the pace at which it releases patches and updates will probably decelerate now because it “places extra of our improvement deal with the first Main Replace arriving in late September.”
“We’ve seen many gamers come into the sport and depart inside the first hour. And that’s as a result of our first hour may be irritating; you are feeling ineffective and confused as to what to do. This wants to be improved,” it added in an update posted to Steam.
“For a lot of of you already taking part in FBC: Firebreak, us specializing in the opening expertise could appear much less thrilling, however to hold the sport wholesome (and your matchmaking quick), we want to convey in extra folks with a greater first-time expertise than earlier than.”
For this, Remedy is engaged on serving to new gamers perceive the Management universe and your home in it, and balancing that between gamers who’ve performed Management and those that haven’t. Remedy thinks higher “narrative onboarding” might be achieved by taking part in an introductory video. From there, there will be higher tutorials to train you core mechanics and options — in addition to leaving some secrets and techniques to discover unaided — and pop up ideas might be launched in the playable tutorial.
Subsequent is gunplay – “our present upgrades could make weapons really feel weak early on” — so the plan is to “drop all generic upgrades from tools and begin gamers with a playable and highly effective model of all the pieces a Firebreak wants from the starting.” To do that, Remedy is growing a mod system to allow you to tweak your weapons — count on extra as we get nearer to September. There’s additionally an enormous shake up for Jobs, and the content material of them, on the manner.
“To perform this, we’re changing Clearance and Corruption Ranges with pre-made, thrilling (you’ll have to take our phrase for that for now) variations of Job experiences that may nonetheless be brief or lengthy or stuffed with Corrupted Objects, but additionally a complete lot extra,” the staff defined.
“We’re hunting down our least enjoyable experiences, specializing in our greatest experiences, and including model new modes with plans for including much more in the future. As a part of this variation, we’re additionally reevaluating our matchmaking circulation, making it clearer and segmenting participant swimming pools extra successfully, to guarantee extra and higher matches.” We must always count on the placement of things like keys and ammo stations to get combined up, too, to higher hold us on our toes.
“As we hope has develop into clear, we’re pushing a variety of enhancements and adjustments into the sport for our first Main Replace,” Remedy concluded. “A few of these concepts have been enhancements that we weren’t ready to add earlier than launch, however all have been selected and developed based mostly on what we heard from you (listening to suggestions) and seen from you ( knowledge).
“We’re extraordinarily enthusiastic about these adjustments and about delivering much more than we’d initially been planning, however adjustments now additionally imply adjustments later. We’d like to see what’s working for you and to hear from you once more earlier than we may be sure that we’re prioritizing the proper issues. So, whereas we’re nonetheless planning on the subsequent Main Replace in the winter, and the subsequent one after that, the particular focuses and options are much more nebulous. There are a selection of matters that we’re discussing and researching, however for now, we’re heads down engaged on the first Main Replace.”
Regardless of the launch hiccups, FBC: Firebreak topped 1 million gamers. “FBC: Firebreak is a compelling co-op shooter that, regardless of its beauty, doesn’t have the depth to hold issues fascinating long-term,” we wrote in IGN’s FBC: Firebreak evaluation, awarding it 6/10.
Remedy just lately confirmed its plans for ongoing assist post-launch, together with two new Jobs (missions) coming in 2025. Extra updates will arrive in 2026, the developer stated. All playable content material launched publish launch, akin to Jobs, might be free to all gamers. Players have the choice to purchase cosmetics, however none of this stuff will have an effect on gameplay, and there might be no limited-time rotations or each day log-ins, Remedy insisted.
It is a busy time for Alan Wake developer Remedy, which has quite a lot of tasks on the go. In addition to FBC: Firebreak, it is engaged on Management 2 and the Max Payne and Max Payne 2 remake compilation.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, in addition to a critic, columnist, and guide with 15+ years expertise working with a few of the world’s greatest gaming websites and publications. She’s additionally a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually Excessive Chaos. Discover her at BlueSky.