Remedy Entertainment’s communications director, Thomas Puha, has revealed that the studio’s upcoming multiplayer title – FBC: Firebreak – will have lower hardware requirements than its single-player games. Speaking with GamesRadar, Puha spoke about being conscious about the game’s PC requirements, since frame rate is important for multiplayer.
Puha spoke about the fact that, while FBC: Firebreak will feature great visuals, the studio is looking to keep its PC requirements lower than its other games because it wants to attract a wider player base.
“We are pretty conscious of keeping the minimum required PC spec reasonable and not going so high with the requirements as we did with Control and Alan Wake 2,” said Puha. “We’ll still have great graphics and visual effects, all that you expect from Remedy, but in a multiplayer experience like this, frame rate is king, as well as the responsiveness of the controls.”
It is worth noting that some of the most popular multiplayer titles out there don’t tend to require cutting-edge PC hardware to play. On the contrary, games like Fortnite, Counter-Strike 2 and Valorant have focused on keeping their hardware requirements low as well, since that means that more players can actually play.
Generally speaking, FBC: Firebreak has been something of a trend-breaking title for Remedy since it is also the studio’s first foray into multiplayer. Known for its single-player games like Alan Wake 2 and Control, FBC: Firebreak is a chance for the studio to explore a space it hasn’t tried before, while at the same time also expanding its own universe of games.
In the same interview, game director Mike Kayatta spoke about how FBC: Firebreak is a new experience for the studio. Among other things, the decision to make FBC: Firebreak a multiplayer title also arose from the desire to see emergent storytelling that can only happen when players have to band together and share the world they are playing in.
Originally announced back in October, FBC: Firebreak puts players in the shoes of a first responder for the Federal Bureau of Control. The game is slated to be a brand-new entry rather than a sequel or spin-off of Control.
Players will explore the labyrinthine walls of the Oldest House a few years after the events of Control. While it may take place in the same location as Control, the Oldest House we see in FBC: Firebreak is going to be reimagined from the ground up to offer new and more interesting encounters for co-op players.
The game is slated for release in 2025 and will be coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Along with having lower hardware requirements than other games by the studio, FBC: Firebreak is also going to be a mid-price title. It’s also going to get more content in the form of post-launch support, but it won’t be a live-service game.
In the meantime, Remedy is also working on a follow-up to Control, aptly titled Control 2.
