FBC: Firebreak News

Grab your Crisis Kit. Call in your squad. Deploy the garden gnome and the piggy bank. It’s time to clean house!

FBC: Firebreak is a 3-player co-op shooter set in the world of Control. Team up, customize your loadout, and take on paranatural threats in tactical PvE missions.

Watch the launch trailer now and prepare for deployment.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
FBC: Firebreak launches June 17. Wishlist today to be ready on day one.

Developed and published by Remedy Entertainment.

Six years ago, the Hiss slipped through a crack in reality and breached the Oldest House. Now the Federal Bureau of Control’s headquarters is a sprawling, living crisis in permanent lockdown. You are a Firebreaker, part of a first-response team volunteering to push into the impossible.

Every mission you take on is a Job - a paranormal emergency wrapped in Bureau procedure. Each Job takes you deeper into the core of a specific crisis, one zone at a time. The deeper you go, the stranger - and more dangerous - it gets.

How dangerous, though?

That’s up to you. FBC: Firebreak gives you three ways to customize each Job: Clearance, Threat, and Corruption.

Here’s how they work.

Clearance Level – How Deep Are You Willing to Go?

Jobs are divided into three escalating Zones:

• Zone 1 introduces the crisis in its mildest form.
  
• Zone 2 dives into a heavy, more dangerous expression of the same crisis.
  
• Zone 3 is where it all converges - where the source of the crisis is waiting.
  

To access deeper zones, you’ll first need to prove yourself. Complete Zone 1 to unlock Zone 2. Finish both Zones 1 and 2 to unlock Zone 3.

Once all zones are unlocked, you can choose your Clearance Level:

• Clearance Level 1: Play Zone 1 only.
  
• Clearance Level 2: Play Zones 1 and 2.
  
• Clearance Level 3: Tackle all three zones in a single run.
  

Clearance controls the length of the session - a short push or a full dive. Each Job ends with a frantic escape back to the elevator. Whether your team makes it out or not, the Bureau considers the crisis “managed” if the objectives are complete.

Threat Level – Turn Up the Pressure

Every Job has four Threat Levels that affect combat difficulty: Easy, Normal, Hard and Extreme.

Expect more enemies, different enemy types, more aggressive behaviors, and weirder surprises as you push the Threat higher. Threat Levels reshape the rhythm and intensity of encounters, forcing you and your team to stay sharp.

Higher Threats also offer better chances at valuable resources. If you want the good stuff, you’ll need to earn it.

Corruption Level – You’re Not in Control Anymore

Corruption comes into play when you’re running a full Job at Clearance Level 3.

There are three Corruption Levels, each adding layers of instability to the mission:

• Environmental variables shift - the locations of Ammo Stations and showers may change, objective counts may increase, and certain resources (like water) might become limited.
  
• And, most notably, the number of Corrupted Items.
  

Corrupted Items are paranatural modifiers that twist the rules of the mission in strange and unpredictable ways. They might harm you a little, they might harm you a lot. Either way, they change how you play.

For example, the Wolff Globe Corrupted Item causes gravity to go haywire, affecting the movement of both players and enemies. Or the Rubber Duck Corrupted Item, which follows one of the players and causes unwanted attention from the enemies.

You can chase them away - if you find a Black Rock Grinder in an Ammo Station and use it during the session. Removing Corrupted Items from the field can earn you Research Samples, a rare currency used to unlock and upgrade perks.

It’s up to you. Does your team have time to hunt them down, or will you race to finish the Job before things spiral further?

Customize Your Crisis

Most Jobs take about 20 minutes to complete. But thanks to Clearance, Threat, and Corruption, Firebreak lets you fine-tune your mission:

• Short and surgical? Clearance 1, low Threat.
  
• Long and brutal? Clearance 3, high Threat, maximum Corruption.
  
• Something in between? Entirely up to you.
  

Every crisis is a chance to go deeper, take bigger risks, and come out stronger - if you make it back to the elevator.

FBC: Firebreak launches June 17. Wishlist now, follow us on Steam, and join our Discord and X channels to stay updated. The Jobsite awaits.

IT’S TIME TO CLEAN HOUSE

Is your PC ready to face the Hiss?

Hi, this is Julius, Community Manager on FBC: Firebreak. We know you’ve been eagerly awaiting the minimum and recommended system requirements for FBC: Firebreak and today, we're happy to reveal them!

Please have a look at the image below to check if your rig is ready to take care of some pesky Hiss.


Whether you're running lean or fully kitted out, now you know what you’ll need when it’s time to dive deep into the Oldest House.

FBC: Firebreak launches on June 17th.

IT’S TIME TO CLEAN HOUSE

Hello, Firebreakers! This is Julius, Community Manager on FBC: Firebreak. As the June 17th release of FBC: Firebreak approaches, let's dig into Crisis Kits.

Before delving into the depths of the Oldest House, every Firebreaker selects one of three Crisis Kits. They are pre-configured loadouts tailored to how you want to complete objectives, support your team, and survive the next hostile anomaly.

The kits are built from the ground up to suit specific roles in the field and come with their own specialized equipment: a Tool, an Improvised Device, and an Altered Augment - our take on a powered-up “ultimate.” Weapons, grenades, and perks aren’t tied to any kit, so you’re free to pair them however you like to suit your playstyle.

Let’s break down each Crisis Kit and what it brings to the fight against the Hiss.

[h3]Jump Kit – Movement and Field Control[/h3]

The Jump Kit is all about electricity, positioning, and field control. This kit is perfect for Firebreakers who want to leap into danger, zap enemies, and keep the flow of power going.

Tool: Electro-Kinetic Charge Impactor

• A heavy-duty, charge-based impactor that discharges electricity through a conductive plate. Use it to stun enemies, quickly power up electric devices on the field, or even launch yourself across the map with an electrified jump.
  

Improvised Device: BOOMbox

• An improvised enemy-attractor with a musical twist. Deploy it, charge it with your Impactor, and nearby enemies will swarm toward the music - until it explodes.
  

Altered Augment: AI19 “Garden Gnome”

• This augment lets you unleash a brief but intense paranatural lightning storm by launching a walking garden gnome at enemies using your Impactor. Think lightning and chaos waddling straight at you with murder in its tiny eyes.
  
• Warning: the Gnome is known to be moody and will just as readily attack you and your crewmates as the enemies. Beware the Gnome!
  

[h3]Fix Kit – Repair and Crowd Control [/h3]

The Fix Kit is the toolkit of choice for those who believe every problem looks like a nail waiting to be hit with the hammer that is the Wrench. If you're the type to run headfirst into danger with a wrench and a plan, this one’s for you.

Tool: Wrench

• This isn’t your average toolbox special. Use it to quickly repair broken field devices - or knock enemies flat on their backs. The Wrench’s rush attack is great for clearing a path or staggering foes.
  

Improvised Device: Swivel Cannon

• Deploy this cannon strapped to an office chair and bring it online by hitting it with your Wrench. Once assembled, it’ll automatically target enemies and fire at them until it eventually breaks down.
  

Altered Augment: AI16 “Piggy Bank"

• Once activated and attached to your Wrench, swinging it into enemies detonates the Piggy Bank into a metallic storm of coins, damaging everything around you. Then the piggy re-forms paranaturally, with the coin storm returning to you and damaging anything caught in its wake.
  
• Warning: Your crewmates won't appreciate getting hit in the face with coin shrapnel. It’s considered rude. Be aware of their location when using this augment!
  

[h3]Splash Kit – Support and Elemental Control[/h3]

The Splash Kit is all about water-based control, team support, and harmful conditions. It’s ideal for players who want to extinguish fires, cleanse allies, and turn the tide - literally.

Tool: Crank-Operated Fluidic Ejector (COFE)

• This industrial hydro cannon launches globs of water capable of dousing flames and removing harmful conditions. The COFE can also prime enemies for further elemental punishment.
  

Improvised Device: Humidifier

• Deploy this healing device and fill it up with the COFE. Once full, the Humidifier will spray restorative mist around itself, healing and cleansing you and nearby allies.
  

Altered Augment: AI44 “Teapot”

• Once activated and attached to your COFE, the Teapot boosts your water globs to superheated levels, igniting anything they hit. Yes, water that lights things on fire.
  
• Warning: Hitting the Humidifier with superheated water will not create restorative mist, quite the opposite!
  

[h3]Loadouts, Perks, and Customization[/h3]

Each Crisis Kit is fully customizable beyond its core gear. As you level up your Crisis Kit rank, you’ll unlock up to nine perk slots. Perks are at the heart of progression in FBC: Firebreak and each perk provides you with a unique twist to your gameplay, allowing you to create specialized builds:

Want a focused build with three powerful shared perks that also help your crewmates? Go for it.

Prefer versatility with nine weaker but unique effects? That works too.

Or maybe four strong perk effects to boost your loadout in specific ways? All up to you.

And while Crisis Kits define your core role in a Job, you’re free to bring any weapon or grenade into the field. Pick your loadout based on the Job, your team comp, or just your personal favorite tools of destruction.

Hint: The Crank-Operated Fluidic Ejector is pretty handy with the shock grenade, because water + electricity = dead Hiss. Shocking.

[h3]Kits Work Best Together[/h3]

FBC: Firebreak is a cooperative game built around synergy, and Crisis Kits are designed to complement each other. Splash clears fires and cleanses crewmates; Fix protects the squad and repairs critical tech; Jump controls crowds and powers up electric objectives. Combine their strengths, coordinate your tools, and face the paranatural - together.

No matter which Kit you choose, you can always take care of each problem - just less efficiently. For example, you can extinguish fires manually, but it’s slower and dangerous. With the Splash Kit, you can hose them down quickly and safely.

Which Crisis Kit will you pick when FBC: Firebreak launches on June 17th?

IT’S TIME TO CLEAN HOUSE

Hey everyone, FBC: Firebreak Game Director Mike Kayatta here with an update on where we are with the game as we count down to launch day, June 17th. While we’ve been hard at work finalizing your day one experience, we’ve also been spending the past few months snapshotting and stabilizing different versions of the game to share with different groups for different purposes.

This has included a user research build to test progression and replayability with a selected closed group of players, a hands-on build for press and content creators that we also played live on our Developer Update stream back in April, and a slimmed-down technical test build to improve our networking and matchmaking capabilities for launch that you might have seen advertised by us recently. Because each of these custom versions was built with a specific purpose in mind, they have invariably lagged behind where we actually are in the game’s development (and generally by a few months—a very long time at this stage of making a video game).

So, all that being said, we thought this was a good time to talk a little about where we are with the game and how we’re focusing our time from here until launch.

We received invaluable feedback and data from the events mentioned above, some of which we already had in our plans, and some of which is now being added to our plans or reprioritized. Just normal game development, to be honest.

There’s a lot to it, but here’s a high-level look at some of the key focus areas that we hope to improve from what you’ve seen so far:

GUNPLAY AND COMBAT

• Guns are upgradable in Firebreak, but we now think we went too far with how weak they felt at the earliest levels. In response, we are making all level one guns radically more powerful, while adjusting other parts of the game to maintain the challenge balance. This also ties into some feedback regarding ammo scarcity, which we are improving in tandem with gun power changes.
  
• The double-barreled shotgun, in particular, drew some commentary about it not feeling “right” yet. We agree, so we have taken a long look with the team at how this gun plays and feels to make sure it meets the expectations of its shooting style.
  
• In terms of general combat intensity and difficulty levels, everything has been overhauled from what’s been shown so far. Among other things, we’re tying different enemy types to different threat levels, adjusting wave frequency and composition, and removing awkward lulls in the action.
  

CLARITY

• Some of the feedback we’ve heard is that it takes a bit of time to understand the game’s systems and the role of the Crisis Kits, but once you “get” those, players are having a lot more fun in the game. On the other hand, we’ve also heard how joyful the organic discovery of new systems and interactions has been for many people, who’ve asked us not to jeopardize that feeling. It’s clear to us that we must find a strong balance between these ideas. To help, we’ve added dynamic tutorials for global and job-specific actions and new “sub-objective descriptors” in the HUD to help better describe the specific actions required to progress against an objective. This should give players a clear path forward without limiting them from discovering alternate ways of going about things.
  
• Another part of clarity is visual clarity. We love how chaotic and intense this game is, but the chaos stops being fun when players can no longer make meaningful decisions based on what they’re experiencing. So, we’re cleaning up and reducing a lot of effects in the game, both on-screen and in-world. This should reduce the visual noise, so you no longer struggle to understand what’s happening during intense moments.
  
• Speaking of noise, another vital aspect of clarity is auditory clarity. So, just a note that we are now in the process of doing the final audio mixing and balancing ensuring players can focus on the right things at the right time. We are well aware that the general in-game volume has been very low in all of our builds to date, and getting the final audio mix in tends to happen at the later stages of game development. We also love hearing how much you like the “escape” music!
  

UI

• One of the significant changes to what you have seen from the game so far has been to the user interface. Multiple components have been or are about to have been updated based on what we’ve learned from user research and player feedback.
  
• The Perk system has been entirely overhauled, though it fundamentally works the same way we’ve always explained it. You can buy three levels of a Perk, and each level you equip will take up a different number of slots. Level one is weak, level two is strong, level three is strong and shared with your crew.
  
• The other significant change (and source of some confusion for people who have followed certain previews) is to how Clearance Levels and Corruption Levels will work. The most important thing to know now is that you’ll be able to fine tune the challenge using a combination of Threat, Clearance, and Corruption, which affect combat, session length, and modification respectively. We’re going to explain these systems in more detail soon, so, look forward to that in an upcoming post.
  

TECHNOLOGY

• We’re continuing to work on performance testing and improvements to nail down our minimum spec and recommended spec on PC. We’ll share those results as soon as we’re confident in them.
  
• Finally, just a note on the multiplayer side. Thanks to everyone who joined our closed technical test; we have found and fixed countless connection and performance bugs across all platforms. We’re still working on it, but we’ve already made great strides forward.
  

We’ve still got a lot to do to make the launch experience the best it can be, but the team is feeling really good about where we are. We’ll do our best to keep you updated along the way and can’t wait to play with you all on June 17th.

IT’S TIME TO CLEAN HOUSE