The initial revelation from Remedy Entertainment about FBC: Firebreak has brought all people in calling it a mostly risky move. Everybody knows that the studio is famed for its strong single-player stories, so something such as this was a departure from the norm. It was, however, a multiplayer live service game with a number of shared spaces where many players could jump in at the same time. Some folks even thought it could probably become a big name in co-op action games, maybe like Left 4 Dead. But things have not gone as planned.
According to Remedy’s most recent financial report, this actually started with very promising numbers. Above a million players tried it out within the first ten days. Sounds huge, right? Here’s the catch-it was released on Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus, such that it was before over 50 million subscribers from day one. That makes the million-player count feel less impressive.
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The problem was, people didn’t stick around. Reviews were mixed. Many of the players who complained said the same things. The Steam sales were lousy, too, which is a big red flag for any PC game. Nowadays, virtually every multiplayer live service game fights for player time almost every day without FBC: Firebreak appearing to make a permanent impression.
Remedy does say that they are still committed to the project and that they want to keep updating and improving it. Sure, a rough start does not always indicate that any game is doomed, but history has shown that most games facing such problems never recover easily. The market is overcrowded in gaming, and a new game has to be phenomenal from the beginning to survive. It’s all about avoiding “okay.”
This is the hard truth about live service games: they need constant updates, a strong community, and that special “spark” to entice players to keep coming back. Unfortunately, FBC: Firebreak did not have any of these in the very early days. It was not bad, yet it fairly lacked excitement to be called “better.” And used to be, “just fine,” in gaming can easily be lost.
Of course, Remedy has not abandoned its strengths. Alan Wake 2’s grand success was heralded at the same time as the news about Firebreak’s slow start. Proof once more that Remedy knows its craft when it comes to creating a huge single-player experience. They’re also doing Control 2, which is always exciting for fans, and that makes it appear as if Firebreak was an experiment rather than a hasty shift in direction.
The question now is simple: will FBC: Firebreak turn into something that feels like a true Remedy game at some point, or will it take just another slow fade like those of so many other live service titles? I hope they can make it happen, because I personally have seen games burst back to life with the proper updates. But I also know just how quickly trends go by in gaming now. Waiting too long can often be dangerous.
The lesson is pretty clear: in live service games, first impressions make a huge difference. Grapple the audience at the outset and then hook the players to make them loyal before they lose interest. If a new game fails to do this, it vanishes into the sea of new releases.
FBC: Firebreak is not completely done yet. Its start has made it clear that surviving in the current world of gaming requires a lot more than the simple launch of a game; it’s mostly about taking control of the player’s mind right from the very first moment-making him feel he cannot miss it. Whether Remedy would manage that or not remains to be seen.
