FBC: Firebreak gets its final content update, a lower price and Friends Pass

Remedy has released the Open House update for FBC: Firebreak, confirming that this will be the final content update for the game, but also making some changes to pricing and multiplayer to give players the best chance of still enjoying some co-op action.

Remedy state that FBC: Firebreak will remain online and playable for years to come – “We have done engineering work to ensure we can sustain the upkeep of the relay servers when the player volume is lower.” – and to facilitate this, they’ve introduced the Friends Pass to the game. Anyone that has bought FBC: Firebreak can invite friends to play with them, who simply need to install the free Friends Pass version of the game (a “Free Trial” on consoles). It’s cross-play too, which is nice, thanks to the use of party codes.

Additionally, Remedy is permanently lowering the price of the game to $19.99 / €19.99 / £16.74 for the base game and $29.99 / €29.99 / £26.74 for the Deluxe Edition. There’s also a 20% discount on Steam through the rest of March.

“FBC: Firebreak was built by a team fueled by passion and experimentation. That spirit shaped the game, but the moments that brought it to life were the ones that players created together,” says Game Director Mike Kayatta. 

“We want to make sure those moments can continue for the players who are already here, and for anyone else looking for a high-energy, low-pressure game night with friends. That’s why the relay servers are staying up, the price is going down, and a Friend’s Pass is going in. From all of us on the team, thank you for your own passion and experimentation, and we’ll see you in there,” he continues.

And for the Open House update? This is adding five new arenas based on the original Control to the Endless Shift horde mode. These include:

• Cafeteria (Executive Sector) 
• Aircon Room (Maintenance Sector) 
• Ranger HQ (Maintenance Sector) 
• Turntable (Containment Sector) 
• Ritual Lobby (Research Sector) 

Beyond that, there’s gameplay tweaks and balancing. Harmful conditions now last longer and their UI icons made more prominent, all water now heals a little bit, and the perks system has been overhauled so you don’t need to assign multiple slots for a higher level perk – you can now rock up with nine level 3 perks!

And then weapons have been rebalanced to perform more consistently across difficulty levels, revive speed is now down to 3 seconds, crawling speed increased, and the closest Neutraliser will always be in the HUD.

For more patch notes, head here.

I generally enjoyed FBC Firebreak FBC at launch, but felt it still had a ways to go, saying, “I wish I could like it more. There’s the amusing ideas of plaguing players with haunted sticky notes and rubber ducks, there’s discovering unique level quirks for how to deal with picking up radioactive orbs safely, and the inherent joy of getting through tense backs-to-the-wall moments with allies by your side, but those moments of delight dissipate through a clunky user interface, abbreviated mission structure and too few levels to take on. This can still grow into something special, but Remedy might have to explore new directions to manage that.”

Sadly the game will never reach its potential, but on the other hand, it allows Remedy to refocus their efforts on their core strength of single player supernatural adventures.

Control: Resonant (AKA Control 2) is coming out later this year.

Source: Steam