Remedy’s latest multiplayer shooter has… uh, not done particularly well for itself, if the Steam numbers are anything to go by. At the time of writing, the game has a 24-hour peak player count of 169 (no, I did not miss a digit) and a ‘mixed’ rating on Steam. Critically speaking, we gave it 60% in our FBC: Firebreak review, and having bounced off it like a rubber ball, I can’t argue with that assessment.
When it comes to the overall player numbers—that is, people who have played it? Remedy’s in better nick. As per the game’s X account, over one million people have given FBC: Firebreak a try.
It seems like the game’s saving grace is, if I were to take a guess, Game Pass—I mean, it’s out on consoles and the Epic game store, too, but let’s face it. It’s probably Game Pass. Maybe Firebreak is super popular on the Microsoft Xbox Series X or something, but I’d be willing to bet good money on my hunch, here.
The good news being, Remedy may well have had enough interest in Firebreak to tank the hit. The bad news being, it sets FBC: Firebreak on a rough road to recovery, which is a shame. I didn’t hate my time with Firebreak, but like many others, I found myself utterly baffled by its progression system.
For starters, it’s stingy. You get a set of pea-shooters and are barred from interesting upgrades by an immediate doldrum grind. What’s more, every time you want to do a mission, you have to replay it three times—unlocking more and more of the campaign as you go.
Imagine if, say, in Left 4 Dead’s iconic No Mercy campaign, you had to do The Apartments. Then, you had to do The Apartments and The Subway on a separate run. Then, on a third run, you had to do The Apartments, The Subway, and then you were allowed to do The Sewer. This is how FBC: Firebreak does it. Why? Uhhh.
I had an acceptable time, but I kept thinking to myself: “Man, I wish I was playing Darktide right now”. It’s a real shame, because all of these problems do seem solvable. But if Firebreak’s 1 million players are indeed majority Game Pass-ers, then a lot of them won’t have actually bought the thing.
In other words, if Remedy turns Firebreak into a much better co-op shooter, but it’s not on Game Pass in the future? You need to get players to buy in, rather than simply clear up some drive space. I wish Remedy the best of luck, but I’m not holding my breath.
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