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.”
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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.
Come check out the other upcoming Xbox Series X games set to launch as new games in 2025.
