Remedy Entertainment just unveiled FBC: Firebreak at the Xbox October Partner Preview. The studio may be known for creating some of the best single-player games around – Alan Wake 2 and Control being its most recent efforts – but now the team is turning its attention to multiplayer for the first time in its 29-year history.
FBC: Firebreak is a three-player co-op shooter set inside The Oldest House from Control. In it, you take on the roles of a fearless first responder from the Federal Bureau of Control, diving into the darkest recesses of The Oldest House to fend off para-natural threats with your friends. It's a strictly PvE affair, with communications director Thomas Puha promising that Remedy isn't pitching FBC: Firebreak as an all-consuming live service – but rather something you can dive into at your leisure.
"FBC: Firebreak should be easy to get into and quickly understandable, not feel like a second job or that you have to spend an hour setting up your loadouts etc. before you get into a session. This is not that game," Puha tells Xbox Wire. "It's a pick-up-and-play experience [about] having fun with your friends when you have the time. That's not to say that FBC: Firebreak doesn’t have deep player progression and things to unlock, it does, but this isn’t about logging in every day for some loot or fear of missing out on materials."
From what we've seen of it so far, FBC: Firebreak certainly has the otherworldly elements that Control nailed, and Remedy is putting that Northlight Engine to great use, rendering out some highly detailed weapons and environments. We've only seen a little so far, but the mission-based, enemy-rich structure seems promising.
Remedy has been teasing its first multiplayer game for some time now. Project Condor has been a known quantity since 2021, with a drip-feed of new info confirming that it would share a universe with Control and that it would be a premium experience – which is to say, not free-to-play. Today is where we saw Project Condor for what it really is, a fast-paced multiplayer shooter that seems on-track to harness the weird and wonderful sensibilities that make Remedy games so unique.
There's still a lot more to learn about the game, particularly in the aftermath of PlayStation Studios' struggles with PvP shooter Concord this year, but I'm keen to see more ahead of FBC: Firebreak's release in 2025 for PC, Xbox Series X, and Game Pass.
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