Firewall Ultra (2023), the tactical team shooter, hasn’t seen an update since developer First Contact Entertainment shut down in late 2023, or just four months after the game’s release on PSVR 2. Now, Sony has dropped a patch out of the blue, tweaking incentives to get new players in… for who knows what reason.

As spotted by Reddit user ‘ROBYER1’, over the weekend Sony tossed out an update that quadruples the amount of XP and in-game ‘Crypto’ currency, making it easier for newcomers to unlock cosmetics and everything else the game hopes you’ll grind for.

But why now? We can’t put it better than ‘Gamertag VR’, who, in a new video (seen below) highlights the history, persistent issues with the game, and adds some speculation as to why Sony would be doing this now, of all times.

“An update like this will surely only benefit new players,” Gamertag maintains. “So, maybe Sony are about to add Firewall Ultra to PlayStation Plus for February, or maybe there’s been a sudden resurgence of interest in the game, or maybe there’s an impending huge sale.”

While any of those scenarios could play out, here’s one that’s slightly more grim. Sony may be giving Firewall Ultra its last hurrah, as ostensibly poor sales and low user engagement over 2024 has put it in danger of delisting. Speculation aside, Firewall Ultra is still selling for $40, which is a pretty steep price for a game that won’t see any meaningful content updates ever again.

SEE ALSO
HTC Launches Browser-based 3D & VR Platform 'VIVERSE Worlds', Aims to Be 'YouTube of 3D Content'

Released in August 2023 and hoping to replicate the success of Firewall Zero Hour (2018) on the original PSVR, Firewall Ultra faced a number of stumbling blocks despite being one of the premier shooters on PSVR 2. At its release, many critics cited issues with the game’s control scheme, amount of gameplay variety, and progression system, garnering it a middling Metacritic score of 61/100 straight out of the gate.

Over the next few months, First Contact released a number of patches to smooth some of the issues over, including fixes to aiming mechanics, new maps, balancing adjustments, and the implementation of an Assignments system for leveling and accessing new gear. All of that apparently wasn’t enough to help bring the sort of critical mass of players First Contact hoped for, as the studio announced in December 2023 that the “lack of support for VR within the industry” had forced the studio to close.

Newsletter graphic

This article may contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product we may receive a small commission which helps support the publication. More information.

Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • 石雨濛

    It is certainly the best looking Team Based Shooter on the maket.

    • gothicvillas

      What I dislike the most is how quick the matches are over. They last like couple minutes, often I don't get to fire even a single bullet.

      • 石雨濛

        I have been waiting for a sale to pick it up … it was already canceled when I got my PSVR2 so have been waiting.

      • They added a best of 3 rounds mode to Ultra which is a nice improvement over the one round style of Zero Hour. I found as a newer player it took me a while to figure out where the best positions are on the maps to catch the enemy team, especially if my team mates were high level and zooming towards the enemy team to obliterate them.

  • Thanks so much for sharing the news and continuing the discussion, the game has noticeably had a jump in new users and returning players. If Sony could put the game on sale with a discounted price or on PS Plus in some way it would be huge for the game. It is a shame FCE are gone but the game luckily has plenty of content to unlock and play with for new and returning players.