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Windows Central

Technology

Cole Martin

"We're actively avoiding coming even close to feeling like either of those things," Remedy really wants you to know its newly announced multiplayer game is not a Control DLC or sequel

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Remedy and 505 Games have announced the studio's first multiplayer title, FBC: Firebreak, set in the Control universe.

What you need to know

Remedy and 505 Games unveiled a brand-new game during the October Xbox Partner Preview showcase.
The game, titled FBC: Firebreak, is Remedy's first attempt at making a multiplayer title and is set within the Federal Bureau of Control as it is taken to siege by otherworldly forces.
Players will take the role of Firebreak, an adaptable response unit tasked with eliminating the threat, as a three-person cooperative team.
FBC: Firebreak's game director, Mike Kayatta, has reiterated that the game is not a DLC nor a sequel to Remedy's prior hit game, Control, though it could be considered a spin-off as it is still within that game's universe.

Remedy and 505 Games showed up during the October Xbox Partner Preview showcase today to unveil a brand-new title, FBC: Firebreak. The game is a three-player co-operative shooter set in the Control universe. However, in an Xbox Wire post on the announcement, Game Director Mike Kayatta was keen to distinguish FBC: Firebreak and its in-universe predecessors.

"FBC: Firebreak is not Control DLC, and it's definitely not a Control sequel," Kayatta said. "We're actively avoiding coming even close to feeling like either of those things. I guess you could say that it's a spin-off but in the most positive sense of the word. It's not designed to be some kind of lesser, bite-sized Control. FBC: Firebreak is its own, fully formed thing."

The announcement trailer for FBC: Firebreak begins with a look at the Federal Bureau of Control clearly in disarray, spliced between images of terrifying otherworldly entities. A door raises to reveal the three player-controlled members of the firebreak team, each with unique equipment. Armaments range from an SMG-looking firearm that fires more akin to a shotgun to a very heavy wrench for melee, and a strange hand-cranked machine that shoots orbs of green goo.

Remedy took creative liberty with additional weaponry and tools for its Firebreak team, introducing what the team calls "paranormal augments" that can be utilized as unique attachments. "I like to think of them as a jaguar in a box," Remedy Communications Director Thomas Puha tells Xbox Wire. "You carry the box, you point it at something, you open the box, and you just kind of hope the jaguar doesn't turn around and eat you or your friends instead."

Players can expect FBC: Firebreak to build upon the world that Control introduced players to with more opportunities to explore the Federal Bureau of Control, The Oldest House, and meet new characters. Firebreak is also expected to toe the line of Remedy's usual storytelling with experiences that may seem amusingly absurd but would be genuinely terrifying for the characters required to live through it.

While details on FBC: Firebreak are still to come, Remedy has shared that the three-player cooperative shooter is a PvE experience that is not expected to be a "live-service" game, but will receive supporting content following its launch.
FBC: Firebreak is a sharp departure from the single-player games Remedy is known and loved for, marking the first time the studio has developed a multiplayer title in its 30-year history. Kayatta has reiterated that there are still other single-player games in the pipeline for the studio.

FBC: Firebreak has a tentative 2025 release window, and is expected to come to Xbox Series X|S and PC at launch. It will also join Xbox Game Pass on day one.