As part of their Summer Games Fest coverage, Gamespot's Kurt Indovina (Senior Producer) sat down with FBC: Firebreak Game Director, Mike Kayatta as the game nears its release date, on June 18th.
Their conversation is perhaps the longest recorded one that we've seen come from the Summer Games Fest-led weekend, spanning across thirteen minutes. The show also takes on a very different atmosphere compared to others, with a friendly banter-like conversation style that reflects the more light-hearted nature of the games industry. They talk about topics such as the game development process, finding Firebreak's identity that both complements and contrasts the studio's portfolio, their process in respecting and pacing narrative space, and early concepts.
In FBC: Firebreak, Jesse isn't really in the picture, instead it's down to the bureaucrats to help settle the score against The Hiss. In the interview, Mike touches on the early concepts, and the team's focus in nailing down those important core concepts early on.
One specific concept was brought up when the interviewer mentioned his reaction when he first heard about a multiplayer game set in the FBC. He imagined a team full of powerful individuals like Jesse Faden, each with a superpower. In response, Mike stated that, finding a rewarding balance with a Remedy feel “was a big focus of ours and it took us a little while to focus or find that focus on the fantasy and the player fantasy. And you mentioned a bunch of Jesses flying around, actually there is a piece of concept like this. Just people experimenting, like a bunch of crazy looking people with like Matrix hairdos, throwing things around, as part of the exploration.”
He continues, describing the early versions that the team considered, one of which you may remember, “It went all over the place and of course, we had our very early concept art which looked like just Rangers kind of waiting with like a take-a-number thing. And of course we didn't really land in either of those places. But it really came down to the idea that, y'know, Jesse is so cool. She's so special, and she's basically like a superhero And do you really want to say 'Oh okay Well she's special, but also here are these seven though other people...'”
Check out the full interview below or on the Gamespot YouTube Channel, HERE.
