At the end of last week, Remedy published a new Steam post detailing the next steps for FBC: Firebreak, as they prepare for their upcoming major September update.
Getting a game out into the world can be extremely unpredictable. Once in the hands of players, they're going to play and break the game in ways that didn't show up in playtesting. They're also coming into the experience blind, which you can't really do while working on it making onboarding tricky. Each player will have thoughts and views coming from their experience on the final product alone. It can be a weird time, particularly for an ongoing adventure such as FBC: Firebreak.
As a result, a month down the line, the team has been reflecting on how to make the game stronger, and last Friday, they published a Steam blog post with a six-part analysis. The first part, “Understanding the game” focuses primarily on the onboarding process and that first hour; balancing player curiosity with how much the game wants to guide. The team will be focusing on strengthening certain elements of that process, creating a playable tutorial level, and weaving in introductory videos.
For established players, don't worry, there will also be some changes heading your way! The other five parts are dedicated to improvements dedicated specifically to experienced Firebreakers, listing new weapons, changes to the upgrades system, as well as replacements for the Clearance and Corruption with pre-designed challenges.
And if that's not enough, the post also teased the upcoming Job. In the September update, a new mission tasks Firebreakers with identifying and eliminating strains of mould. The adventure will bring "a new handcrafted level, three Zones, a new status effect, two more enemies to deal with, and all the rest you’ve come to expect from a new Job."
As exciting as all those changes sound, it's also important to note that game dev can get... weird. Depending on time, things can get postponed, or they just don't work out. Because of that, the blog post states that “While we want to provide you with detailed information on what's coming, the nature of game development is that things change frequently. Some features will make it, some won't, some will arrive later than planned, and some earlier! Giving away too much, too early when features aren’t entirely locked down can also get us into trouble. However, we want to remain transparent and keep you informed about what’s going to come. Even if it might change.”
You can read the Steam post in full on the FBC: Firebreak page, HERE! (Archive)
