Roughly a year after releasing the acclaimedAlan Wake 2, Remedy Entertainment announced that it was working on a new game calledFBC: Firebreak. This title, which is currently in development for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, is unlike anything else the Finnish developer has made before. Not only is the game Remedy’s first-ever FPS (excluding the single-player campaign forCrossfireX), it’s also the company’s first multiplayer game and first self-published title. Single-player-focused developers often struggle in their transition to the multiplayer genre, but Remedy Entertainment seems to have retained much of what makes its games great inFBC: Firebreak.
FBC: Firebreakis a three-player PvE co-op FPS that’s set inthe Remedy Connected Universe,whichAlan WakeandControlare a part of. In this game, players must team up with their friends and venture into the Oldest House to fight an array of unusual and otherworldly enemies (including a hive mind of sticky notes!) that have been infected by the Hiss, the hostile paranormal force that serves as the primary antagonist ofControl. AlthoughFBC: Firebreakdoesn’t have an exact release date just yet, it’s currently slated to come out sometime in summer 2025. Knowingly or otherwise, Remedy may have chosen the perfect timeframe for the game.
FBC: Firebreak is Being Released at an Ideal Time
Although 2025 is Packed with Game Releases, The Summer Months Seem to Be Fairly Empty
Compared to previous years, 2025 is going to have no shortage of video game releases whatsoever.This year marks the debut of several major titles, such asGrand Theft Auto 6,Ghost of Yotei,Borderlands 4,Crimson Desert, andMafia: The Old Country, among many others. The long-awaited Nintendo Switch 2 is also going to be launched in the coming months, presumably alongside a bunch of new titles. Taking these factors into account, it’s possible that 2025 will be the biggest year in the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S generation yet. Because of this, one might think thatFBC: Firebreakwill get lost within a sea full of juggernauts, but in reality, this may not be the case.
At the time of writing this article,the release window that Remedy Entertainment has announced forFBC: Firebreakisn’t very crowded. Currently, there are only a handful of big AAA games that are targeting a summer 2025 (e.g. from June to August)launch.These includeKojima Productions’Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Activision’sTony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 Remake, and Konami’sMetal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. Fortunately, none of these games are in the same genre asFBC: Firebreak, so they won’t have to compete with it directly.
Even if the Switch 2 Launches in Summer 2025, It May Not Impact FBC: Firebreak That Much
If there’s one wildcard that could disrupt Remedy Entertainment’s plans forFBC: Firebreak’s launch, it’s probably the Nintendo Switch 2.Nintendo is going to fully reveal its next console on April 2, and if all goes according to plan, the system may be released by summer 2025, potentially withMario Kart 9or a new, mainline 3DMariogame. The Switch 2’s launch titles will likely dominate the gaming landscape for quite some time. However, sinceFBC: Firebreakseemingly isn’t being released on the Nintendo Switch 2 and is in an entirely different genre than most Nintendo games, this may not be too much of a problem.
FBC: Firebreak is Going to be Accessible to a Very Large Audience at Launch
Release windows aside, it’s also worth noting thatFBC: Firebreakis launching on both PS PlusExtra/Premium and Xbox Game Pass on day one. Since it’ll immediately be available to a wide audience of gamers at no extra cost, this may boost the game’s visibility on current-gen consoles and ensure that it has a healthy playerbase in the months to come. As long asFBC: Firebreakdoesn’t suffer from a rocky launch and isn’t pushed back to a later date, the simultaneous subscription service releases should ensure that Remedy Entertainment won’t have to worry too much about other upcoming AAA titles overshadowing it.
