We Interview: FBC: Firebreak Game Director Mike Kayatt & Communications Director Thomas Puha

Being a huge fanboy of anything Remedy Entertainment does, it should surprise no one of my excitement for the upcoming FBC: Firebreak. Given I also play a lot of first-person shooters, this choice in genre fits me like a glove. After watching a presentation and panel for FBC: Firebreak, I had the opportunity to virtually sit down with Game Director Mike Kayatt alongside Communications Director Thomas Puha to discuss what players should expect from Remedy’s first real foray into the live-service shooter space. If you want to know even more about the game, check out our written preview below.

My first question is simple, but holds a lot of weight. How did they translate what Remedy is known for, immersive storytelling, into a co-op shooter? After all, this genre doesn’t exactly lend itself to an easy translation.

Mike had already somewhat discussed this idea in the presentation, but elaborated further here. You can split narrative design into two parts: world and story. The development team looked at this and thought, “Who is telling the story? What are the players doing and talking about?”. In that context, they didn’t want to compete with the story the players were telling in their minute to minute gameplay. This allowed Remedy to focus on the other part – world. Here, they could use the immersive world and lore to support the story the players tell inside FBC: Firebreak.

Thomas tagged in, mentioning they had to make the game work within the genre as well. Ultimately, players will come back because of the fun systems and the ability to play cooperatively with friends. You won’t be watching the same cutscene over and over or hearing repeating dialogue.

Another question was birthed from a little digging I did on Mike. This, at least according to some sources, is his first FPS title. What challenges came with directing this genre of game, and what benefits does he see coming from that specific perspective?

He couldn’t go into all of the details, especially as NDAs keep one from divulging details, but Mike did his best. In regards to perspective, he wasn’t a part of the team that built Control. Being able to look at FBC: Firebreak from outside that room and bring up, “We haven’t tackled this kind of game before, how do we make this work?”, was an important piece in building this game out. Mike’s recognition of having to craft this game differently than Remedy was used to was extremely beneficial in that early process. This “game of firsts” has brought a lot of fresh points of view into the room, which has added more varied, yet passionate backgrounds to the project. Thomas also had to take a moment to give Mike his flowers; his stepping into the Game Director role aided in solidifying the vision for FBC: Firebreak.

As GamingTrend’s resident Call of Duty player and FPS guru, but also an aforementioned Remedy fanboy, FBC: Firebreak speaks to me on many levels. That said, no FPS game is the same. This led me to be curious about the pacing of FBC: Firebreak. Is it more fast paced and frantic, or is it more tactical and calculated, like a Rainbow 6? Or, can you play at your own pace? Is there a benefit or detriment to either playstyle?

Funny enough, Thomas is a big Call of Duty fan too and brought up how even those games have different pacing depending on the developer – a very true statement. The movement, time-to-kill, even the aim down sights speeds differ drastically at times. If you think regarding only the first item – movement – that fluctuated quite a bit during the development process.

This is where Mike chimed in, echoing the sentiments of having to alter the pacing to find what felt right for FBC: Firebreak. This is a PVE game, so it’ll need to be a bit different. Games like Deep Rock Galactic made sense as another co-op game, and Overcooked (an odd choice) was an inspiration based on the frantic teamwork needed. Intense, tactical gameplay isn’t what Remedy was going for here, with more focus on finding those moments between combat to accomplish your mission goals. You won’t be playing slow, that’s for sure, although not as fast as the original build, which had an almost arcade, slapstick element to it that didn’t fit the vibe the team was trying to craft. Now, they’re quite happy with their pace, with a happy medium that allows you to think about what you’re doing while attempting to process what’s happening quickly.

Now for the bad word: live-service. This loaded term applies to FBC: Firebreak, but Remedy is approaching it differently than other video game companies. Still, given there are some live-service elements to Firebreak, what kind of cadence were they looking at in supporting the game post launch? Is there any extra pressure from this genre?

Thomas led with this one, affirming that they definitely feel the pressure of live-service. They know what they want to do, taking it seriously in bringing players more to do outside of launch day, even thinking ahead as far as next year. This being a smaller team, even though they’ll punch above their weight, no matter how much content they throw at FBC: Firebreak, they’d never be able to truly beat the demand. They are tackling it the best they can, with a set cadence they’ve determined, but realistic of what they can do in their timelines and with their manpower, alongside making sure the launch is smooth.

Mike also wanted to reiterate that this is a systems-driven game, with their focus on increasing the value of this game within its confines rather than through additional content. When new updates do drop, they want them to be impactful, not something that will be quickly beaten and moved on from. That’s the benefit of the game design they’ve chosen, which will allow Remedy to deliver the right stuff post-launch: quality over quantity.

I always enjoy seeing what fun stories development teams have from their time working on their game. In the middle of all the serious work, there definitely has to be a little bit of play; this is gaming we’re talking about. Mike recalled a great realization; American culture differs from Finnish culture in certain ways. One of those was the sauna culture, and taking meetings in the nude is a bit more… normal than over here in the States.

In terms of game development, there were plenty of moments where the team prototyped different tools or weapons that didn’t make the cut, but that were hilarious in practice. One of these was a balloon projectile tool. In the testing, they were spreading these out and around the battlefield, hopping around on them, and finding it changed the gameplay to feel more vertical – Mike referred to Donkey Kong Jr as a similar idea. While that specific item may not have made it in, they were able to figure out the perfect mix of tools and weaponry for FBC: Firebreak through the trial, error, and ridiculous.

Obviously, I couldn’t make it out of this interview without asking one important question. With the Remedy-verse in full swing, are there any chances we’ll get cameos from characters outside of Control? Can this truly be a part of the universe if we aren’t getting a taste of Remedy past and future?

Both Mike and Thomas were hush-hush on how they answered, but forthcoming in the direction for FBC: Firebreak. The connected universe exists, and it’s important to them, and this game is canon even if a specific story thread isn’t there. Building depth in FBC: Firebreak outside of easter eggs is Remedy’s prime directive, as if you rely too much on nostalgia it will wear thin, and the game won’t truly succeed on its own merit. Not only that, you alienate new fans who don’t get the references. They want to find connections to the larger Remedy-verse, but not at the expense of their playerbase. Day one will also be a lot different than several months from now, so they’ll have opportunities to add to FBC: Firebreak in the future.

Thanks again to both Game Director Mike Kayatt and Communications Director Thomas Puha for taking time out of their busy schedule to chat with me! FBC: Firebreak will arrive this summer on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series consoles. If you have Xbox Game Pass or Ultimate, or PlayStation Plus Extra or Premium, the game will be included in those subscriptions. Keep your eyes on GamingTrend for future updates, previews, and an eventual review for FBC: Firebreak!

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