On this day 8 years ago, Remedy Entertainment released their new IP, Quantum Break exclusively on the Xbox One console. The game has certainly become a bit of a cult classic, but it certainly wasn't received as such back in 2016 by many.
At the time of it's release the narrative around Xbox was quickly shifting. The momentum of the Xbox 360 was fizzling away, Halo 5 had launched just a few months prior and was pretty poorly received (at least for a Halo game anyway). Fable Legends, one of Xbox's biggest IPs at the time was suddenly cancelled just as it was about to release and the whole "Xbox has no games" narrative was just starting. Xbox had taken their eye off what mattered and was focused more on an entertainment machine than a gaming machine. Enter Quantum Break.
Quantum Break was an action-adventure single player game Centred around protagonist Jack Joyce, played by actor Shawn Ashmore, in the town of Riverport where a time travelling experiment went terribly wrong. It had a strong narrative and the gameplay was solid, but what made Quantum Break unique was the game had a built in tv show. If you haven't played it then yes you read that right. You would play the game for an hour or 2 at a time and then kick your feet up, grab some popcorn and watch a full on tv episode that furthered along the story.
Xbox loved the idea and thought it fit perfectly with their entertainment console. It also filled a big void for them, being a completely single player experience. Unfortunately for Xbox it had a very mixed reception. There were people like myself who loved it. The actual game was great and I loved the story building using the tv show, but many at the time hated it. It certainly wasn't the reception Remedy and Xbox had envisioned.
But as time as passed over the years the game has been looked at more and more positively. A couple years ago I would highlight a game every day from my collection for everyone to reminisce about. One of the most popular posts I had by far was the Quantum Break post. Since then anytime I see the game mentioned it brings fans memories flooding back in a positive way, with hopes that Remedy might one day return to the franchise.
While I doubt we ever see the game get another entry in the series, every once in awhile it deserves its moment in the sun, and today as a perfect day for that. Happy Birthday Quantum Break, enjoy your flowers.
