Skip to main content
PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES
Search PC Gamer
View Profile
Movies & TV
Gaming Industry
PC Gaming Show
Newsletter Signup
Community Guidelines
Affiliate Links
Meet the team
About PC Gamer
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
Why subscribe?
Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming mag
Try a single issue or save on a subscription
Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From£35.99View
Essential Hardware
PC Gaming Show
Dune: Awakening
Recommended reading
FBC: Firebreak review – Delightfully silly, but hindered by balancing issues and limited replay value
Co-op shooter FBC: Firebreak is so deadly that even the objectives are trying to kill you
FBC: Firebreak doesn’t have the eldritch chaos I had hoped for so I’m going back to one of my favourite games that you’ve never played
Remedy director says that FBC: Firebreak ‘respects player time’ instead of relying on FOMO, which has ‘infected modern games’
FBC: Firebreak patch aims to improve the game’s early hours, which ‘do not provide a good experience,’ Remedy admits
Splitgate 2 review: A fine F2P time waster, but not a revolution
The new trailer for Remedy’s co-op FPS features explosive pink goop and flying desk chairs, so it’s still looking like the silliest thing they’ve made
FBC: Firebreak
Despite limping on Steam charts with a 24-hour peak of less than 200, FBC: Firebreak hits 1 million players milestone—and, let’s face it, it’s probably Game Pass
Harvey Randall
27 June 2025
A good first impression is everything.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Remedy Entertainment)
Remedy’s latest multiplayer shooter has… uh, not done particularly well for itself, if the Steam numbers are anything to go by. At the time of writing, the game has a 24-hour peak player count of 169 (no, I did not miss a digit) and a ‘mixed’ rating on Steam. Critically speaking, we gave it 60% in our FBC: Firebreak review, and having bounced off it like a rubber ball, I can’t argue with that assessment.
When it comes to the overall player numbers—that is, people who have played it? Remedy’s in better nick. As per the game’s X account, over one million people have given FBC: Firebreak a try.
(Image credit: @remedygames on X.)
It seems like the game’s saving grace is, if I were to take a guess, Game Pass—I mean, it’s out on consoles and the Epic game store, too, but let’s face it. It’s probably Game Pass. Maybe Firebreak is super popular on the Microsoft Xbox Series X or something, but I’d be willing to bet good money on my hunch, here.
Related Articles
FBC: Firebreak review – Delightfully silly, but hindered by balancing issues and limited replay value
Co-op shooter FBC: Firebreak is so deadly that even the objectives are trying to kill you
FBC: Firebreak doesn’t have the eldritch chaos I had hoped for so I’m going back to one of my favourite games that you’ve never played
The good news being, Remedy may well have had enough interest in Firebreak to tank the hit. The bad news being, it sets FBC: Firebreak on a rough road to recovery, which is a shame. I didn’t hate my time with Firebreak, but like many others, I found myself utterly baffled by its progression system.
For starters, it’s stingy. You get a set of pea-shooters and are barred from interesting upgrades by an immediate doldrum grind. What’s more, every time you want to do a mission, you have to replay it three times—unlocking more and more of the campaign as you go.
Imagine if, say, in Left 4 Dead’s iconic No Mercy campaign, you had to do The Apartments. Then, you had to do The Apartments and The Subway on a separate run. Then, on a third run, you had to do The Apartments, The Subway, and then you were allowed to do The Sewer. This is how FBC: Firebreak does it. Why? Uhhh.
I had an acceptable time, but I kept thinking to myself: “Man, I wish I was playing Darktide right now”. It’s a real shame, because all of these problems do seem solvable. But if Firebreak’s 1 million players are indeed majority Game Pass-ers, then a lot of them won’t have actually bought the thing.
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
In other words, if Remedy turns Firebreak into a much better co-op shooter, but it’s not on Game Pass in the future? You need to get players to buy in, rather than simply clear up some drive space. I wish Remedy the best of luck, but I’m not holding my breath.
2025 games: This year’s upcoming releases
Best PC games: Our all-time favorites
Free PC games: Freebie fest
Best FPS games: Finest gunplay
Best RPGs: Grand adventures
Best co-op games: Better together
Harvey Randall
Social Links Navigation
Staff Writer
Harvey’s history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he’s since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G’raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He’ll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don’t ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
FBC: Firebreak review – Delightfully silly, but hindered by balancing issues and limited replay value
Co-op shooter FBC: Firebreak is so deadly that even the objectives are trying to kill you
FBC: Firebreak doesn’t have the eldritch chaos I had hoped for so I’m going back to one of my favourite games that you’ve never played
Remedy director says that FBC: Firebreak ‘respects player time’ instead of relying on FOMO, which has ‘infected modern games’
FBC: Firebreak patch aims to improve the game’s early hours, which ‘do not provide a good experience,’ Remedy admits
Splitgate 2 review: A fine F2P time waster, but not a revolution
Latest in FPS
Rainbow Six Siege X director says free currency gain has been ‘buffed’ after complaints: ‘The goal wasn’t to make it a harder grind for players’
Stalker 2 artist kickstarts the Zone Kit modding scene with a flood of glorious nonsense mods featuring Shrek, CJ, and—you guessed it—Thomas the Tank Engine
Stalker 2’s 1.5 mega-patch just dropped and GSC says A-Life is back, baby
Wanna make mods for Stalker 2? That’ll be 700 GB of hard drive space, please
Valve announces Team Fortress 2 is getting ‘a much-needed update’ focused on Mann vs. Machine: ‘A chilling cautionary tale where an artificial consciousness tried to take all our jobs’
Overwatch 2 Season 17 is ‘all about giving you more customisation’ as 3 new heroes are added to Stadium with some pretty busted abilities
Latest in News
I screwed up Karlach’s ending in Baldur’s Gate 3: I thought I’d picked her best outcome but her actor says ‘not very much’ of her is actually left
The new version of Logitech’s glorious MX Master makes an appearance in the EU Intellectual Property Office database, pointing to an imminent release
Deus Ex lead Warren Spector pops up to remind everyone he didn’t make the game alone in a cave, wish you a happy 25th anniversary, and get me wondering if something Deus Ex-related is happening behind the scenes
Elden Ring Nightreign player hits 63,375 damage and keeps going until they’re punished for their hubris: ‘I was suddenly unable to deal any damage at all’
‘No one wants to see Leon scared’: Resident Evil 9 Requiem director admits that Leon Kennedy is just too cool to be the protagonist of a horror game
Want size and speed in your SSD? Micron’s new 2600 boasts ‘up to 63% faster sequential write and 49% faster random write speeds’ than the competition
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES
LATEST GAME REVIEWS
Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
Best graphics card for laptops in 2025: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop
Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
Best 14-inch gaming laptop in 2025: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands
Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested
Nacon Revolution X Unlimited review
Razer Iskur V2 X review
Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS review
AverMedia Live Gamer Ultra S GC553Pro review
Peak review
PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.
Contact Future’s experts
Terms and conditions
Privacy policy
Cookies policy
Advertise with us
Accessibility Statement
Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury,
BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.
Please login or signup to comment
Please wait…