The most important tool in Remedy's new co-op FPS is the shower: 'Saving water is essential'
When Remedy announces a new game, I expect three things: A protagonist wearing street clothes, third-person shooting, and a pistol. FBC: Firebreak, a first-person co-op Control spinoff, has none of that, and that's incredibly exciting. We haven't heard much about Firebreak other than its 2025 release window, but in a recent interview with GamesRadar, Remedy revealed that a major mechanic in its first FPS is taking a shower.
"FBC: Firebreak is a lot about crisis management and getting covered in stuff that you shouldn't be – fire, radiation, sticky notes," game director Mike Kayatta told GR. "So if you want it off, then wash it off. Don't want a cold shower? Warm it up first. And saving water is essential. Cram inside the box with your team."
In co-op FPS parlance, the Decontamination Shower sounds like a sort of rest stop periodically found on missions. Like a safe room in Left 4 Dead or a Medicae Station in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, taking a quick shower will restore health and clear any interdimensional gunk festering on your uniform.
"Believe it or not, the shower was one of the very first design elements that stuck," Kayatta continued. "It's practical, improvised but professional, encourages teamwork, and taps into just the right amount of Bureau absurdity."
We get a brief look at these improvised showers in Firebreak's announcement trailer:
Ahh, looks just as cramped and utilitarian as I imagined.
And what does Kayatta mean about cold showers? Does that mean you get an extra buff for taking a warm shower? That tracks with my general demeanor when my water heater is broken, but it also makes me wonder how systems-dense Firebreak might be. Maybe I'm reading too much into the electric gun and a goopy acid cannon that (seemingly) puts out a fire in the trailer, but we might be playing with the elements in Firebreak.
FBC: Firebreak is coming sometime in 2025 and, as a first for Remedy in years, launching on Steam day one.