Firebreak Developers Share Inspiration and Challenges Behind Their First Multiplayer Game – PlayStation.Blog

Sure, here it goes:

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Okay, so things are totally heating up as Remedy’s FBC: Firebreak gears up to hit PS5 on June 17. It’s part of the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog, by the way. Caught up with the folks behind it – like Thomas Puha, who handles communication, and Teemu, Anssi, and Mike. They’re a hilarious bunch with some wild stories about crafting this first-person shooter.

Right, they dove into the techy bits first. Thomas was like, “Yeah, we’re pushing for 3D Audio.” And there was all this talk about prioritizing 60 FPS – sounds fancy. They were aiming for FSR2 on PS and some other stuff on PS5 Pro. Honestly, some of that flew over my head.

The DualSense controller features are still in the works, but they really want each weapon to feel different with those snazzy adaptive triggers. It’s like they’re obsessed with making it immersive.

Now Mike had this cool spin on influences. Apparently, shows like Dirty Jobs inspired them. Imagine Mike Rowe – that guy’s everywhere – tackling nasty jobs and somehow sparking ideas for a video game. Even random stuff like PowerWash Simulator. Who knew cleaning could be so soothing, but also, um, zombified?

Bit of an off-tangent but stay with me. I mean, imagining zombies popping up while washing stuff is kinda epic, right? Suddenly you’re in this “Should I keep cleaning or run?” scenario.

Anssi piped up about the challenges: multiplayer and FPS mixed together is a whole different beast. They had those moments where players were bewildered, like, “Wait, what are you shooting at?”

Teemu jumped in, saying seeing systems start to click was magical. Like you’re staring at a jigsaw forever and then bam! You see the picture. Those are the fun bits, I guess.

Mike had to deal with skepticism. Making new stuff, especially something different, comes with doubts. Internally people were like, “Hmm, really?” But once the trailer hit, and it didn’t tank, everybody was pumped. It’s motivating, really.

They stuck to the principle of doing stuff only they could pull off. Weird, wild universe kinda vibes, they said. There’s tons of shooters out there, but making theirs stand out? That’s the trick. Oh, and embracing chaos – that’s what the gang landed on. Teemu admitted saying it out loud was like giving himself permission to make it wonderfully messy.

Naming the game? That had its journey. “Firebreak” was inspired by real firebreaks. It’s like protecting areas from fires, which somehow relates to the game’s setting, the Oldest House. They didn’t want to stuff ‘Control’ into the title but also didn’t want to stray too far either.

Some external suggestion – erm, “Housekeepers”? Yeah, that was a no-go. Just, no.

Anyway, FBC: Firebreak’s dropping soon on PS5, June 17, part of the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog, so keep an eye out.