As the days until the release of anticipated strategic military shooter Firewall Zero Hour tick down, developer First Contact Entertainment and Sony are trying to get the hype train rolling with the release of a new trailer.
Firewall Zero Hour is a tactical military shooter based around 4v4 multiplayer in which the players are charged with protecting sensitive data containing on a laptop, or trying to break in and steal that same data.
The new trailer prominently features a player using the PlayStation Aim controller, a peripheral which has helped increase the immersion for some players since it was released alongside Farpoint. The developers have previously talked about how use of a gun in the title became an important area for immersion.
The First Contact Entertainment team designed the title so that aiming and gun movement is not controlled by a button press, but is instead tracked to physical movement, allowing for the realistic motion of lifting the gun to scan down the scope for nearby targets.
Another action possible in Firewall Zero Hour is the ability to ‘blind fire’ by sticking your weapon out of cover to fire at enemies without moving your player avatar from cover. This action is made much easier and more immersive with the Aim Controller.
The Vice President of First Contact Entertainment, Joshua Ochoa has also indicated that gun movement can be used to communicate with team members, pointing or waving the weapon to indicate a direction to move in, or to signal where enemies are located. This is something that is reflected briefly in the trailer.
Firewall Zero Hour is due for release on 28th August, 2018. Pre-orders for both the digital edition and physical versions, including the Aim Controller bundle, are available through the PlayStation Store.
The trailer video is available to view below. Further news on Firewall Zero Hour and other upcoming VR projects will be here on VRFocus.
As the release of the virtual reality (VR) team-based strategic military shooter Firewall Zero Hour gets closer for PlayStation VR owners, the team at First Contact Entertainment have released two new trailers that showcase the different maps and playable mercenaries players will encounter. For those looking to gain a better understanding of the battlefield and the different mercenaries that are playable, these new trailers will be prove to be invaluable.
In the above map trailer, players are treated to a number of different locations in several countries around the world. This includes a shipping Dock, and Office, and a purpose built Shoot House located in the UK. Traveling to the Middle East players will find the Hotel, District and Compound while in Russia there is the Bunker, the Warehouse and the Embassy. Each look very fitting to the visual style and atmosphere that the title is aiming for and are all highly detailed with impressive visuals that will ensure players feel completely immersed in the action.
As Firewall Zero Hour has been designed to give players an exciting close quarter combat experience, the maps look to enable this gameplay alongside enchaining the creative opportunities players will have. Using the layout of each map to your advantage, utilizing cover and hard-points were possible, will ensure that players have a better chance of survival during a match. On top of that, the variety of locations and paths available to players in each map ensure that no two matches will play out the same, regardless of the map.
The below trailer that features the 12 playable mercenaries not only offers a chance to see them in person, but also learn about their skills which can help turn the tide of battle. For example, ‘Skip’ has the primary skill of ‘Loaded’ that provides extra ammunition for primary and secondary weapons. ‘Texas’ has the ‘Bullet Sponge’ skill which means she takes less bullet damage. Other skills that mercenaries have include faster reload times, less explosive damage and decreased weapon recoil to list a few. It is important to learn all of them and find the mercenary that suits your play style so that you can home your skills fast and control the battlefield.
Elsewhere, First Contact Entertainment recently also released new trailers that talked about the immersion within the title along with a general overview video as well. These are designed to help get players ready for the thrilling, action packed gameplay that title will be bringing to the table.
Firewall Zero Hour is releasing next week on August 28th, 2018 and is available to pre-order right now both digitally and physical. You can see the trailer below for a better look at the different maps and for all the latest on Firewall Zero Hour in the future, keep reading VRFocus to stay up to date.
Editor’s Note: This interview was originally published prior to launch and is being republished for the launch weekend.
Original: Earlier this week we had the chance to go hands-on with the final, release build of PSVR-exclusive shooter, Firewall: Zero Hour from First Contact Entertainment. In our final pre-launch impressions article we spent a lot of time analyzing the game’s balance, the various maps, and detailing how customization options work. You can read all of that here and find our full rundown of everything you need to know about the title here.
During that event we also got the chance to speak with Hess Barber, President & CEO at First Contact Entertainment and Game Director Damoun Shabestari. We talked about the game’s upcoming launch, reception to the title thus far, as well as post-launch support in the form of potential other game modes and other types of prospective DLC.
Right now Firewall only has one single game mode for the main 4v4 PvP multiplayer offering: Contracts. Equal teams of 4 are separated into Attacking and Defending where the attackers must hack a firewall access point and then gather intel from a laptop, whereas the defenders must prevent the intel from being captured by lasting until the timer runs out (5 minutes) or killing all attackers.
That’s the only game mode other than Solo and Co-Op training, so obviously one of the main burning questions is what about other modes? Team Deathmatch? Capture the Flag? More co-op offerings?
“We’ve definitely talked about all that, but the obvious reason not to do that right now is the player base,” said Barber. “Even if it’s as big as it could be, it’s still gonna be smaller than a normal PS4 game so we don’t want to have multiple game modes spread out and chopping up the player base. Once we see what happens with the players and if there is a good, consistent player base, and it keeps rising, plus DLC, and people keep coming to it, then we’ll release those game modes so we don’t chop up players as much.”
The reasoning makes sense, but it’s still a big want from the community and the game’s not even out yet. Alternative options such as offering a single playlist that cycles game modes (similar to Overwatch) or having timed event for special game modes, like a weekend special for double XP in Team Deathmatch, then it’s gone, or something do exist. But time will tell if that sort of thing is implemented.
“We’ve discussed all kinds of game modes and we’ve tried [team deathmatch] internally since a lot of people naturally play all shooters like a team deathmatch and then adapt to a more tactical style,” said Barber. “So a mode like that is very, very different and it does work and it’s fun, but we just don’t want to split people up. There’s also the immersion factor when you don’t respawn and bullets are hitting all around you and you can feel the pressure and the need to pull back and duck and survive.
“One of the modes we’ve thought of is a hardcore mode where there is no wrist map tablet, one shot you’re down, no names over heads, friendly fire, and all that stuff we want to get to down the track. Definitely something that we’re planning and discussing because there will be that group that wants more intense stuff.”
DLC can take the form of many things, though. Other than game modes or maps, there is potential for new contractors, new guns, new attachments, and more. Some titles even let you purchase in-game currency using real money to sidestep the amount of time it takes to unlock everything — so we asked about that too.
“No, you can’t buy in-game currency,” said Barber. “We didn’t want to have multiple currencies or anything like that. You’re able to purchase items with crypto in-game, but we never have plans to sell currency for money.”
So I understand the need to limit scope and manage resources, but the greedy consumer version of my brain still really wishes there was more Solo or Co-Op content even if not a proper campaign.
“We wanted to do both single player and multiplayer from the start, but when it really came down to it and we budgeted it, the time needed to do a really good single player would probably have been two or three years to really do that well,” said Barber. “So we wanted to be able to have a way for people to play solo, but we didn’t want to call it Single Player because people would expect a campaign so we came up with Training. You can level up and progress in there, but it’s much less than in Contracts.”
The most important thing for Firewall’s success, other than it being a good game once we get the chance to really dig in at launch, is that the community continues playing it. There needs to be enough to do to keep people busy and post-launch support via things like DLC could be a big part of that if done well.
“To be clear, this is not a release and forget game for us,” said Shabestari. I’m eager to see how much longevity a game this ambitious has in the end. With over 3 million PSVR headsets out there, the market is larger now and certainly growing all the time.
Firewall: Zero Hour, easily one of the most anticipated VR games of this year, is just a few weeks away now. The game launches in the US on August 28th, but you won’t see our review before then. Why’s that?
While it may usually be the case that a game’s developer or publisher has set a review embargo maybe a day ahead of launch, in this instance we know that developer First Contact Entertainment won’t actually be sending out review code until the big day. It recently said as much in an online blog.
The reason for this, First Contact says, is to avoid having press waiting long stretches of time trying to find games when there simply aren’t that many people playing. “By waiting until servers are fully populated, reviewers will get the full intended experience – representative of the social, collaborative and competitive thrills you can only get by playing with real people,” the team wrote.
Firewall does offer a small single-player mode, though the game is largely intended to be played online, pitting teams of four against each other in attack and defend-style missions.
You probably won’t see our Firewall review on August 28th, then, but we’ll try and get you some comprehensive impressions as soon as humanly possible. We have, however, just got another lengthy hands-on session with the game at an event.
Firewall: Zero Hour is less than two weeks away and yesterday Sony hosted a final pre-launch press preview session at their San Mateo headquarters. At the event we were able to go hands-on over the course of four hours with the final release build version of the game across competitive Contracts mode, co-op, and even solo training mode. For the first time ever we also got hands-on time with the game using just a standard DualShock 4.
During our demo every contractor, gun, perk, attachment, camo skin, and everything else was unlocked for tinkering with over a million in-game credits and fully leveled up content to explore — and we spent a lot of time digging into everything.
For those unaware, Firewall: Zero Hour is a first-person tactical, team-based competitive shooter in development by First Contact Entertainment exclusively for Sony’s PSVR. You can read our giant info dump right here if you want more nitty gritty details, but basically imagine Rainbow Six and Onward had a baby and you’re pretty close to understanding how this game works.
Technically there are three ways to play: solo, co-op, or full 4v4 PvP in the Contracts mode. Both Solo and Co-Op are considered “Training” missions and award far less XP and in-game credits. You’ll use the credits to unlock new guns, attachments, cosmetic alterations, and perk slots.
Since Firewall is primarily a multiplayer game that’s heavily focused on 4v4 matches, teamwork is crucial. Luckily every single PSVR has a mic built into it because you’re gonna be encouraged to communicate often while playing this one.
At my preview session there was a good mixture of people like myself that had played the game before (here and here) as well as people that were new to the game or new to VR in general. After a few matches you could hardly tell the difference. We were playing on the final “release” build of the game, which means this is the “gone gold” version that was likely already shipped out to retailers.
The main new things we got to try at this latest preview event were the full selection of maps, character customization, and for the first time ever trying it with a DualShock gamepad instead of just PS Aim.
So, technically, as explained you can play with either the DualShock 4 controller or the PS Aim, but after trying both I can say that I vastly prefer playing with the PS Aim. The DualShock 4 controls are similar to in Farpoint, meaning you need to physically point and aim the light bar on your controller, but it just feels a bit odd waving a gamepad around. I got used to it, but aiming a plastic rifle was way more natural.
There are nine total maps in Firewall: Zero Hour and up until yesterday I’d only seen three of them. All in all there’s honestly a good assortment of options. Some are incredibly small with lots of tight spaces, like Shoot House, which is basically just a plywood shooting range full of small rooms and narrow hallways. Then others are enormous, like Warehouse, which is an enormous waterside shipping location full of cargo containers and multiple levels, or District, which is just a multi-block section of a Middle Eastern city complete with convenience stores and shops to explore and several streets and alleyways.
However, I do think that if I had to pick a favorite map at this point it’d be Office, which is an ultra-modern Silicon Valley-style social networking company’s headquarters. It’s two floors with a large, open foyer in the center, multiple stair wells, several offices, cubicles, and interconnected hallways. Everything is laid out very realistically with desks, plants, and furniture to provide sporadic cover as your explore.
Every map has a unique personality all its own and I can vividly remember exciting moments and tense firefights from every single one over the course of my entire demo.
During this latest hands-on session I was also able to uncover new layers to the gameplay that I hadn’t really realized before. First of all, the strategies for whether you’re playing Attacking or Defending are vastly different. For example, door blockers may be more valuable than grenades if you’re defending and the room with the laptop has a lot of entrances. Additionally, if you’re attacking, you don’t win the match by killing all of the defenders. Unless you hack the firewall and then retrieve intel from the laptop within the time limit, you lose.
At the play session we literally had a scenario where the attacking team wiped out all of the defenders but they’d been so set on hunting us down that they forgot to hack the firewall downstairs so when they found the laptop they couldn’t even access it and the timer ran out. Victory from the grave somehow feels even sweeter.
On top of all that, when you’re dead, you can still monitor security cameras around the level and talk to your teammates in a support role, which is extremely useful as a defender to spot where the attacking team is approaching from.
My only lingering reservation about Contracts is regarding balance. At the event, other than perhaps one time, across the whole four-hour session I don’t think the Attacking team ever won a single match. Now a big part of that is probably due to the fact that none of us knew the maps very well and as a Defender you can lay traps and ambush Attackers more easily. Map knowledge will help counteract that over time, ideally.
Finally, there’s customization. Any time you play a public match in Firewall you earn XP and credits based on performance across your entire account. As you earn XP you level up and with each new level you gain, you’ll unlock new gear, accessories, attachments, and customization options. Then, once something is unlocked, you can “purchase” it with your credits to equip.
There is a bit more complexity to it too. For example, if you unlock a red dot sight and purchase it, then you can equip that red dot sight on any gun that allows it. Attachments are not gun-specific when purchased but can be applied to any applicable weapon. The same goes for camo and skins — all guns have access to a purchased skin and all contractors have access to camo, face paint, arm patches, etc. once purchased.
The last wrinkle to the progression puzzle is that each contractor has a specific perk unique to them, such as carrying more ammo, higher resistance to explosions, or faster reloads. As you increase in level you’ll unlock a contractor’s secondary perk.
There is one single pool of secondary perks that you can purchase from and then assign any of those unlocked secondary perks to any contractor with an open slot, as long as they don’t have the perk already.
Overall Firewall: Zero Hour seems to have really shaped up nicely. There is a lot of map variety, tons of customization and upgrade options, a solid assortment of contractors and guns, and the core gameplay dynamic in Contracts mode is both tactical and thrilling. However, balance issues and concerns over potential player size, the long-term appeal of just one game mode, and the value of limited Co-Op and Solo modes, all have me a little concerned. We’ll have to wait until launch to see how it shakes out!
Check back in a couple of weeks for our full, scored review. Until then, you can read our massive info dump for everything you need to know about Firewall: Zero Hour and let us know what you think down in the comments below!
Want to know exactly what your objective is in PSVR’s Firewall: Zero Hour? These two new videos have you covered.
The latest clips in the Firewall 101 series, which are being released in the build-up to the game’s impending launch, cover attacking and defending. In the game’s multiplayer mode, one team must seek out and hack an objective while the other team bands together to defend it. These clips explain exactly what makes each experience so different. It helps that there’s also plenty of new gameplay to boot.
Not long to go now; Firewall: Zero Hour arrives exclusively on PSVR on August 28th in the US and 29th in the EU.
Firewall Zero Hour is just around the corner with a release date of August 28th, 2018. In preparation for the game we’ve rounded up all of the information we’ve got so far on this highly anticipated release. Once Firewall is out on PSVR, you’ll already be locked and loaded to jump in if you read this.
So here’s everything you need to know about PSVR-exclusive shooter, Firewall Zero Hour!
What Is It?
Firewall: Zero Hour is a PSVR-exclusive tactical, team-based first-person shooter. In the game you pick one of 12 different contractors, form a team of up to four total players in its core Contracts game mode, and fight against another team of four players. There are Solo and Co-Op training modes as well.
Gameplay is slow-paced and methodical, similar to non-VR game, Rainbow Six Siege, or PC VR-exclusive shooter, Onward. There are no respawns during matches and the objectives are more complex than simply “kill the other team” to encourage teamwork and strategy.
In Firewall: Zero Hour there are essentially two game modes: Training and Contracts. In Contracts two teams of four players fight against each other on one of nine maps. The objectives for the Attacking team to locate and steal sensitive information by hacking a firewall and then retrieving intel off of a laptop inside the level. If you’re on the Attacking team you must complete your objectives. Simply killing all of the Defenders but not completing your objective will result in a loss.The Defending team’s goal is to prevent the Attacking team from getting the information, or killing all of the Attackers.
What makes matches extra intense is that there are no respawns at all. Once you’re dead, you’re out until the next match and can only watch security cameras to give your team advice.
The only way of playing the Contracts game mode will be through competitive 4v4 online multiplayer so an active community will be very important. If you decide to play Training instead, you can do this either as a Solo player against a stream of AI enemies, or in Co-Op with a total of 2-4 real players against a stream of AI enemies. In Training, the objectives remain basically the same for both Attackers and Defenders.
Both Contracts and Training will be playable in either Public or Private varieties, however, you only earn XP and rewards for playing Public matches. All game modes require an internet connection to play and PlayStation Plus is requiredfor both Co-Op Training and Contracts.
What About Single Player?
As explained above, there will be a single player option in Firewall: Zero Hour, but it’s just one of the “Training” modes that is basically focused on the same objectives as Contracts multiplayer. The only difference is that you’re facing off against a stream of AI bots instead of other players. You will still gain XP and credits, but not as much as in Contracts.
This means that there is nota structured, narrative campaign. If you’re looking for a story mode similar to DOOM VFR or Farpoint, then you should look elsewhere.
Even the single player Training mode requires an internet connection to play.
How Do Contractors And Progression Work?
There are a total of 12 different Contractors in Firewall: Zero Hour. Visually each of them look different and have their own personal background stories informing their voice over style, name, and abilities. Although all 12 play the same mechanically in terms of actual controls on your controller, they differ in strategy. If you’ve ever played Rainbow Six Siege, this should sound very familiar.
Every contractor has a single special ability unlocked from the beginning of the game, such as faster reloading for certain types of weapons. As you continue to play as a Contractor and earn XP, you’ll unlock a second ability slot and additional weapon customization options for your loadout. There will also be a ranking system in place based on player overall level.
It’s also our understanding that there will be different outfits, face paint, and other forms of customization for each Contractor as well.
Here is list of all 12 contractors, their names, and what their starting primary ability skill is:
Skip
Real Name: Jack Turner
Primary Skill: Loaded (Extra ammo for primary and secondary weapons)
Texas
Real Name: Sarah Wells
Primary Skill: Bullet Sponge (Takes less bullet damage)
Red
Real Name: Sergei Volkov
Primary Skill: Bang Bang (Extra frag grenade)
Tarek
Real Name: Tarek Adjmi
Primary Skill: Wired (Enemy traps visible at greater distance)
Raha
Real Name: Raha
Primary Skill: Scout (Heightended enemy detection)
Diaz
Real Name: Rob Diaz
Primary Skill: Double Time (Faster movement speed)
Fang
Real Name: Fang Li
Primary Skill: Lightspeed (Reload magazines faster)
Meiko
Real Name: Meiko
Primary Skill: Ninja (Reduced movement noise)
Okoro
Real Name: Okoro Chetty
Primary Skill Heavy Duty (Less explosive damage)
Grim
Real Name: Charles Taylor
Primary Skill: Quick Fix (Revive teammates faster)
Nala
Real Name: Nala Buhari
Primary Skill: Ghost (Doesn’t set off mines)
Odin
Real Name: Erik Andersen
Primary Skill: Iceman (Decreased weapon recoil)
What About Maps?
Firewall: Zero Hour will launch with nine maps. As of August 16th, we’ve tried them all. Here’s what to expect:
U.K. Docks – This one looks like a literal shipping facility with lots of containers and maze-like areas, Office – A modern, brightly colored office space for a social media company called Social Makers, Shoot House – Looks like a small, target practice shooting range with lots of cardboard cutouts.
Middle East Hotel – This one is almost all indoors with lots of tight hallways and intricate decorations, very high-end, District – Features lots of outdoor areas in the Middle East with a shopping district, several alleys, and even some grocery stands, Compound – This was the first map we ever played and is a mixture of a large, open field with a multi-level building at the center.
Russia Bunker – This is the second map we tried and it’s 100% in-doors with one open area at the center and lots of hallways at either end where you spawn, Warehouse – Mostly just one large open area, but it has lots of obstacles and containers scattered around, Embassy – Finally, this is a government building and the insides feature several cubicles in an office-like setting to duck behind for cover.
When you play a match in Firewall, the objective is placed in a different spot each time. So even if you play the same map over and over, it will yield a slightly different experience for both the Attacking and Defending team.
What About Weapons?
When you select a Contractor in Firewall: Zero Hour, you will also pick a loadout that is catered toward a specific playstyle. All loadout options are the same across all contractors and when you unlock a gun or accessory for a gun it unlocks those items permanently. For example, when you unlock and purchase the red dot sight, you can equip it on any gun that allows a sight attachment for any contractor. The same goes for camo colors/skins, patches, and gun trinkets.
We don’t have a full list of weapons yet, but from what we’ve seen everything you expect from assault rifles and handguns to shotguns and grenades are all represented. In our latest demo we counted around a dozen guns.
Can I Use PS Aim Or PS Move Controllers?
The first three demos we had for Firewall: Zero Hour had been with the PS Aim Controller. While using this peripheral, you move your character with the analog sticks on the controller itself and physically aim and shoot your gun with the plastic rifle. It feels similar to Farpoint and DOOM VFR, but it’s a bit slower-paced.
At the final hands-on opportunity on August 15th, we finally got to try the game using a standard DualShock 4 yet. It works similarly to the gamepad support in Farpoint, in which you must physically aim and point the controller as if it were your gun. It feels a little strange at first, but you eventually get used to it. Otherwise the controls are basically the same as the PS Aim.
Firewall: Zero Hour only supports the standard DualShock 4 and the PS Aim Controller — there is no support for the PS Move controllers. The main reason for this is that the lack of an analog stick on the PS Move controllers make it difficult to map all of the buttons and actions you need during a game.
When And Where Does It Launch?
Firewall: Zero Hour is releasing exclusively for the PSVR on August 28th. Specifically, the servers go live at 9PM PT. There is a PS Aim Controller bundle for sale if you don’t have the gun peripheral yet and want to use it when playing Firewall. If you want to pre-order the physical version of the game, you can do that from Target, GameStop, and Best Buy.
Or, you can pre-order the game digitally on the PSN Store. All digital and physical pre-orders for Firewall will receive the same pre-order bonuses:
In the run up to it’s release, team-based strategic military shooter Firewall Zero Hour is releasing a number of videos to help get players ready for the virtual reality (VR) action when it releases on PlayStation VR. The video released yesterday was an overview of the videogame with today focusing on the VR immersion side of things.
The team at First Contact Entertainment talk in the video about how the immersive power of VR really allows the player to become one with the action within Firewall Zero Hour. Players don’t push a button to lift their weapon up to aim it is their physical movement that allows for that motion of looking down the scope and scanning for targets. One of the standout features that Damoun Shabestari, Creative Producer at First Contact Entertainment points out is the freedom to blind fire. This is done by sticking your weapon out from behind cover to fire at enemies without removing yourself, offering more cover then just leaning out.
Joshua Ochoa, Vice President, First Contact Entertainment also expands on the freedom of gun movement but adding that players can use this as a means to communicate with team members. Pointing with your weapon or waving it in a direction to signal where enemies are is a valid and powerful way for teams to better understand each other during intense firefights.
One of the other ways players will be truly immersed within Firewall Zero Hour is thanks to the directional audio which the title features. This means that players will be able to actually tell where gun shoots, footsteps or even voices are coming from just by listening to the environment around them. This will also help give players a chance to approach areas of the map quietly to try and get the jump on their enemy.
The full video on how Firewall Zero Hour will offer stunning immersion is available to watch in full below. The title is due to release on 28th August, and pre-orders for both the downloadable and physical versions are now available through the PlayStation Store.
For more coverage on Firewall Zero Hour in the future, along with all things VR, keep reading VRFocus.
Team-based strategic military shooter Firewall Zero Hour is one of the summer’s most anticipated titles for the PlayStation VR, as it promises to offer fast-paced PvP shooter action on the Sony virtual reality (VR) platform.
In preparation for the release coming up soon, the development team at First Contact Entertainment have released a video through the PlayStation YouTube channel where they talk about Firewall Zero Hour and give some insight into its development.
In the video, Joshua Ochoa, the Vice President of First Contact entertainment describes the title as a first-person strategic multiplayer shooter which is exclusive to PlayStation VR, and goes on to praise the title as ‘incredible.’
President and CEO Hess Barber than takes over to explain that players will be either on an attacking team or defending team, with the classified information stored on a laptop at stake. Attackers need to infiltrate and steal the laptop, while the defenders need to prevent the other team from doing just that.
There are a range of military firearms available, all of which have been modelled on real-world counterparts. In addition to guns, players can make use of items such as grenades and flashbangs, mines and C4 explosives, or signal jammers.
For the characters, the developers explain that the characters in Firewall Zero Hour are not taken from a single military group, and are instead contractors with a range of backgrounds, whose training in different areas need to be carefully applied in order to reach the objective.
The development team emphasise that the title has been designed to be inclusive, and not aimed strictly at FPS fans, and the team is hoping that anyone can jump in and enjoy Firewall Zero Hour.
The full video is available to view below. Firewall Zero Hour is due for release on 28th August, and pre-orders for both the downloadable and physical versions are now available through the PlayStation Store.
For future coverage of Firewall Zero Hour and other upcoming VR titles, keep checking back with VRFocus.
A few weeks before the launch of the hugely-anticipated Firewall: Zero Hour, developer Adam Orth has left the studio that made it.
Over on Twitter, Orth revealed that yesterday was his last day at First Contact Entertainment. “Finishing my work on FZH left me some time to reflect and realize there are some new things I want and need to explore,” he wrote.
Some personal news: today was my last day @firstcontactent. Finishing my work on FZH left me some time to reflect and realize there are some new things I want and need to explore. I’m off on a new adventure and will update more on that soon-ish.
There’s no reason to worry about the state of Firewall itself; the game went gold not long ago and will be launching exclusively on PSVR on August 28th. It’s a tactical multiplayer shooter that pits players in 4 v 4 battles, and we’re very much looking forward to it.
Still, Orth’s departure is somewhat surprising given the proximity to Firewall’s launch and the fact that he joined First Contact just 18 months ago. He made the move to the LA-based team after finishing up work on his first VR game, Adrift, which launched alongside the Oculus Rift. Developer Three One Zero was shuttered at the same time.
As for what’s next, Orth promised an update “soon-ish”, though his profile now notes that he’s “Mostly likely in VR”. Replying to one fan that hoped the developer would remain in VR, he wrote: “You know it, buddy. Always! Keep on supporting the game. Lots still to come!”
