We live in strange times. The cat in the box is both alive and dead, it’s perpetually “Over!” for that one Youtuber you’re forever hearing about in your video recommendations, and FBC: Firebreak didn’t quite meet expectations but also did but also didn’t.
Strange times indeed. Strange realities, found within a company’sinvestor relations posts.
ToRemedy(or at least, the company’s CEO), FBC: Firebreak “succeeded technically,” since it reached “over 1 million players in its first 10 days.” But the game also “underperformed” - especially on the PC platformSteam.
The vast majority of players actively enjoying the game play on Xbox Series X/S, or on PlayStation 5. Many players, regardless of platform, dropped off the game pretty quick, but none as quick as PC players. Not even close.
The fact that both of those consoles have subscription-based services is no coincidence. FBC: Firebreak can be played on both Gamepass and Playstation Plus, and the investor relations statement makes no attempt to dodge this.
“Commercially, we were unsatisfied with the launch-phase consumer sales ofFBC: Firebreak.” The statement reads. “Thus far,FBC: Firebreak’s commercial performance has largely been driven by the Xbox and PlayStation subscription service agreements.”
FBC: Firebreak Struggles To Find Steam Audience
What should have been Firebreak’s biggest savior, somehow turned into its worst platform. “On Steam,” Remedy’s Investor Relations post reads, “which was planned as the primary consumer sales channel on PC, the launch underperformed.”
The game’s initial onboarding experience and mission structure resulted in high early player drop-offs and an influx of negative reviews.
The statement does offer a silver lining, though. Steam lists the reviewer’s number of hours played in a game, and there’s a pattern Remedy spotted.
“Players who spent over an hour with the game reviewed the game mostly positive – showing us that the core experience of the game is entertaining.” The statement continued. “We have already rolled out patches and communicated on how the game will continue to develop.”
Remedy maintains hope that continued support will give the game the levels of success they expected to see on-launch, though with each passing day away from that launch window, those chances look slimmer. Not every game can be No Man’s Sky, though it’s good to see people trying.
If the game does get much better though (good enough to start drawing people back), console players look like they’ll be the first ones to raise the alarm. That lowered barrier of entry from game subscription services seems to be FBC: Firebreak’s main boon right now, and hopefully they can pull off the recovery before the game rotates off the platform.
