FBC: Firebreak is about to get its first free Major Update on September 29th across all platforms. Update is scheduled to land approximately at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 18:00 BST / 20:00 EEST.
This update, named Breakpoint, is packed with systemic overhauls, new content, and quality-of-life improvements - all aimed at making FBC: Firebreak more fun, varied, and rewarding to play.
We have taken a lot of feedback to heart. Over the summer, we have worked hard on releasing updates to the game. Still, Breakpoint is only the first major step, we know we need a few more, bringing significant improvements and new systems, as well as content, into the game, incorporating community feedback alongside our own ideas.
We will publish the full patch notes on September 29th.
This is a lot of words thrown at you, but ultimately, we know, that the proof is in playing the game once the Major Update is released. However, here is everything that is new and changing.
With Breakpoint, we want to:
Improve everything about the FBC: Firebreak experience
Inject more variety into Jobs and reduce repetition
Deliver on the fantasy of being a first-responder facing unpredictable crises
Improve onboarding and make the game more welcoming for new players
Add more depth and build variety with guns, grenades, perks, and the new Gun Mod system
Crisis Board - Replacing the Job Board and presenting curated playable content, making the game feel more dynamic, less predictable, and closer to the first-responder fantasy at the heart of the game. We want the game to show you the fun rather than ask you to hunt for it.
”Orientation” – A new tutorial level accompanied by onboarding improvements across the game
Outbreak – A brand-new Crisis (formerly known as Jobs) bringing a new location, enemies, and gameplay
Gun Mods – Brand new gun customization system bringing modifiers that make guns more powerful or change their functionality.
New guns, grenades, cosmetics, and enemies
Systemic improvements to harmful conditions, objectives, devices, and more!
Economy & Progression Overhaul (covered in our previous blog post)
Let’s revisit what we wrote back on July 18th when we laid out our plans for our first Major Update:
“Firebreak (initiative) was formed to manage an ongoing crisis, and as a first responder, you should be reacting to dynamic, unpredictable dangers, not being asked to create danger for yourself. “
To better serve this fantasy (which many of you did bring up) and give more variety to our players, we are introducing the Crisis Board, which replaces the current Job selection screen. It shows Crises that appear at different levels (what we formerly would call Jobs) around the Oldest House.
We want the game to show you the fun rather than ask you to hunt for it.
There are currently three types of crises:
Jobs (full runs)
Quick Jobs (1-2 Zones)
Corrupted Jobs (Jobs with Corrupted Items in them)
From the Crisis Board, you can quickly see the types of Crises available and their modifiers. You can get a detailed look at what the Crisis contains by clicking it.
Each Crisis is currently a curated version of one of the existing five (six with the update) Jobs with randomized rewards, objectives, and length.
The Crisis Board refreshes every 30 minutes, always giving you something new to play.
At any given time, 4–6 Crises are active. These are the same for every player globally.
Corruption and Clearance levels have been removed, but you still choose the Threat level (difficulty) you want.
You can choose a specific Crisis to play and start matchmaking for it.
There is also a Quick Reinforce option that will put you into the next active Crisis-in-progress to help a crew in need.
The Crises use the same objectives Jobs had, but Zones 1-2 have 25% fewer objective requirements than before. Meaning you are destroying fewer Sticky Notes and carrying fewer Leech Pearls to complete objectives than before.
On top of that, we want to make Crises more unpredictable, which is why each Crisis currently has two unique Alternative Objectives that can pop up randomly during Zones 1 and 2. These replace the primary objective of the Crisis, so whereas before the mission flow was always the same, there should be a bit more variety and surprise in how Crises progress. We are planning to add more Alternative Objectives to the game via future updates to add more unpredictability to the Crises.
Shower and Ammo station locations will be much more randomized than before, so you can't rely on muscle memory in finding them when you enter familiar-looking territory. However, the nearest shower will always be marked on the HUD for you, so you don’t die looking for them.
The Crisis Board is a big change in how we present playable content in the game. It’s hopefully a meaningful step toward making Firebreak feel more dynamic, less predictable, and closer to the first-responder fantasy at the heart of the game.
We will closely monitor how the feature is received, listen to feedback, and make adjustments as needed.
Note: You can no longer manually pick a specific Job, Clearance, or Corruption level. We know some players liked that flexibility, and we’re exploring ways to bring back more customization in the future.
Breakpoint brings with it a brand-new Job or, rather, Crisis, called Outbreak, which is set within the Research Sector of the Oldest House.
Following a series of devastating House shifts across the Research Sector, the Mold has begun to evolve and spread at a rapid rate, transforming Hiss and Firebreakers alike into dangerous new enemies. Your mission? Descend into what's left of Research, analyze any spores you find, then brew a custom poison to eliminate all Mold from the area. Just remember: Do as you're told... don't eat the Mold!
Crisis Details:
A twisted brand-new environment broken into three distinct zones.
New objective gameplay of transporting fragile spores by hand or by train into research machinery.
Two new dynamic enemies.
Mold Walkers - bullet-resistant, slow-moving enemies that you'll want to use your Tools to take down. And be careful! If normal enemies get too Moldy, they'll change into Mold Walkers themselves, adding to the horde!
Mold Turrets - Stationary turrets that fire large projectiles that Firebreak will need to avoid. They can be stunned but not killed, so do your best to avoid making more of them. And speaking of that...
A new harmful condition, Moldy, which can turn you or your crewmates into a Mold Walker!
The following is a bit less exciting for players already well-versed in FBC: Firebreak, but as we want and need you to get your friends to play the game with you, read on to learn how we are making the first few hours of the game more enjoyable and hopefully understandable.
At launch, FBC: Firebreak could be overwhelming and confusing. If you weren’t already familiar with Control or the concept of the FBC. It was easy to be unsure of what to do, or be frustrated at the game’s systems, which weren’t explained quite well enough.
We have released a few patches trying to improve the onboarding by including an introduction video explaining the Firebreakers' job. With Major Update Breakpoint, we are taking serious steps in making the experience more welcoming to players new and old, through a variety of new features and changes.
“Orientation” tutorial level – A playable tutorial level with voiceover and tooltips that teaches the basics by doing.
“Welcome to Firebreak” video – An introduction to who you are, where you are, and what you’re fighting for.
This was added to the game back in July, but now you can rewatch the video in-game from the Media Viewer.
Job overview videos – Available in the Main Menu under the option Media Viewer to help you understand each Crisis.
New onboarding flow – A smoother introduction when you boot up the game for the first time.
When combined with other improvements we are making across the board, they should give newcomers (and their friends) and veterans a somewhat friendlier way into Firebreak.
We realize that a single tutorial by itself is not enough to solve every problem when it comes to understanding the game, so there is a lot more work left in this area for us, even if there’s always going to be some level of finding things out for yourself in a game like this.
Our aim is to do another round of improvements, simplifying some of the game’s systems, in our next Major Update.
Quality-of-life improvements
We have also made a series of changes and improvements in Breakpoint that make the early game less punishing and the overall experience more easily understandable:
Immediate access to the full Crisis Kit and all tools
Improved visual communication of Harmful Conditions (Burning, Papered, Cold, Moldy, and so on)
Harmful Conditions no longer spread between players
Closest healing shower always signposted with a healing icon
Improved visual feedback when you are healing yourself
Ejector (the water cannon), the Splash Kit’s tool will now remove all harmful conditions from players (with the exception of the Moldy)
Hot Fix: Removed ambient heat damage (except on Extreme Threat level) and made the visual effect of the heatwaves more dangerous looking
Ground Control: Radiation damage -50%
Freezer Duty: Frost Anomalies now have health bars to show the heater's progress
Two additions that we got a lot of requests from the community: players can now slide and move while downed.
Suffice to say, we have learnt that Harmful Conditions are one of the most confusing and frustrating parts of FBC: Firebreak. Heat damage in Hot Fix or radiation gained from carrying Leech Pearls in Ground Control isn’t well communicated, and players often end up dying without knowing what killed them or get caught in punishing revive loops (reviving a burning teammate only to catch fire and die themselves).
The changes introduced in Breakpoint should lessen these issues, but we have more plans in place to tackle these issues in future updates.
A new feature in Breakpoint is the Gun Mod system. This unlocks as you reach Reputation level 3. You can find Gun Mods under the Loadout menu.
Gun Mods have modifiers that enhance the power or alter the functionality of guns.
Each gun has three mod slots, giving you new options for customizing your arsenal. Some Perks have been reconfigured into Gun Mods, mainly the ones related to bullets or ammunition.
Some examples of the Gun Mods are Recoil Accelerator, which causes the bullets to push back enemies and increases damage at close range (but decreases it at long range), and Burst Accelerator, which increases damage with every bullet fired (and resets after reloading).
There are 27 Gun Mods at the launch of Breakout:
Nine universal mods that fit any gun type
Six category-specific mods that only fit guns of the same category (Blast, Precision, Spray)
You no longer need to upgrade your guns; they are already at their full power as soon as you unlock them. You unlock Mod Slots as you increase your Reputation level through play.
We are also adding three new heavy guns into the game, one for each category: Scattergun, Semi-automatic rifle and Rotary Cannon.
And if you are wondering what those categories are, they are:
Blast guns are your shotguns meant for close-quarters combat
Precision guns, like the Bolt-action rifle, are the opposite, meant for accurate long-range combat
Spray guns, like the Submachine gun or the new Rotary Cannon, rely on rapid-fire to mow down groups of enemies
With these changes and additions, your arsenal should feel more flexible and personal than ever before. Whether you prefer blasting up close, holding the line with precision shots, or spraying enemies with sheer firepower, the new system is designed to support different playstyles and open up new ways to approach every Crisis.
Crisis Kits are the most essential tools of a Firebreaker. Each kit offers a different playstyle and equipment to combat the Crises. To encourage players to use each kit’s Improvised Devices and Altered Augments (supers, ults, you know the deal), we have made a few changes to them:
All Augments now also charge from using the Kit’s Tools against enemies, making them usable more often
All Improvised Devices refill faster from Ammo Stations, so you have access to them more often
Fix Kit Piggy Bank Augment:
Deals a lot more damage to enemies upon the first impact. The coin vortex also gets thrown forward from where you hit an enemy.
Splash Kit Teapot Augment:
Deals more damage to enemies than before.
Fix Kit Swivel Cannon Improvised Device:
Deadlier than before. Previously, the cannon’s projectile almost never hit airborne enemies, and the projectile unintentionally broke up after traveling five meters. As a result, while the cannon tried to shoot enemies further away, it had no effect. We have now fixed this buggy implementation.
You can now also deploy up to three cannons at a time.
Jump Kit BOOMbox Device:
Now attracts enemies much more… attractively. BOOMbox was actually quite broken before and didn’t attract any enemies that spawned after the player had placed the BOOMbox. This is not how it was intended to work, and we have resolved this issue.
Also makes a bigger boom when it explodes (=more dead enemies).
You can now also carry two BOOMboxes.
Splash Kit Humidifier Device:
Reworked visual healing effect to make it more readable that players are being healed.
You can also now carry two Humidifiers.
Overall, these changes should make Devices and Augments more reliable and impactful in combat.
We covered this in detail in our previous blog post, but here’s a short recap:
You now unlock all new gear (guns, grenades, level 1 perks) by leveling up your Firebreaker
You keep all your previously unlocked gear, guns, and perks
All gear starts at maximum power, so no need to upgrade them
Level cap is raised to 200. (The previous level cap was 49)
All the old currencies (Lost Assets and the different Research Samples) are removed from the game
There are three types of new Lost Assets and one special currency
New Lost Assets are Intel, Parts, and Samples
Use these to upgrade perks and unlock cosmetics
Your existing currencies are converted into these three, split evenly
(UPDATE) Currency cap for these is 200 each. If you happened to have more than 600 of the old currencies in total, the rest is lost.
New special currency is Trace
Used to unlock special cosmetics in the new Exotics Requisition
Due to the changes mentioned above, The Requisitions will also be revamped:
Essentials Requisitions will be removed, as you no longer need to buy gear or their upgrades
Expressions Requisitions stays as it is and includes unlockable cosmetics and now also gun skins, with the costs updated to use the new currencies
Firestarter Deluxe Requisition will stay as it is, but with the costs updated to use the new currencies
Breakpoint Requisition contains new unlockable cosmetics themed around the update
Exotics Requisition is a new free collection of weird and cool cosmetics and voice packs for players to unlock
This requisition uses the new special currency, Trace, which can drop from Powerful Enemies and Corrupted items
Breakpoint Major Update also comes with just more…stuff.
More Hank & Jerry dialogue exchanges in the Main Menu for those who want more revealing office chatter
2 new voice packs
New armor sets, exotic helmets, gun skins, and sprays
3 new heavy weapons: Semi-automatic rifle, Scattergun, Rotary Cannon
3 new grenades: Freeze, Healing, Black Rock
5 new enemies:
2 new mold enemies exclusive to Outbreak Crisis: Mold Walker and Mold Turret.
3 new Hiss enemies (with variants) across the experience: Corrupted Ranger, Corrupted Ranger (Airborne), Demolition Expert.
While we want to see how Breakpoint lands and adjust our content plans as we go, we are already hard at work on the following Major Updates to FBC: Firebreak.
We caveat that the below is subject to change as is the norm in game development.
The next Major Update is planned to be released in late November. Tentatively it’s called “Rogue Protocol” and will contain the much-requested cross-platform voice chat and a brand-new game mode to go alongside it.
The next Major Update after that is planned to come out in March 2026. We’ll have high-level details of what this update contains soon.
The update goes live on September 29th and is scheduled to land approximately at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 18:00 BST / 20:00 EEST.
There will be downtime just before the update starting at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 17:00 BST / 19:00 EST, lasting about 45 minutes.
Breakpoint is a significant step forward for FBC: Firebreak, offering new ways to play, new content to discover, and a smoother, more rewarding experience. We are excited and also a little bit nervous to see how all of this lands with you, the players.
We can’t wait to see you dive in and hear your feedback here on Steam, Reddit, our Discord, social channels, and so on. Thank you for your patience and for sticking with us!
The FBC: Firebreak team