Ever since we announced Firewall Ultra, the next evolution of the Firewall franchise, last year here on the PlayStation Blog, the outpour of encouragement from the community has been nothing short of amazing. The pure excitement in all your comments, messages, tweets, and posts have us all even more motivated to make the game as great as it can be.
Which is why we’re so excited to debut our new gameplay trailer featuring fresh PvP gameplay footage!
To cap off that excitement, today we’re thrilled to announce that pre-orders are officially live for Firewall Ultra starting today with a launch date of August 24, 2023 at 8am PDT!
Firewall Ultra puts the next-gen VR features embedded in the PS VR2 front and center to deliver a compelling and immersive first-person shooter experience. This includes eye-tracking for innovative use cases like closing your eyes to avoid the effects of a flashbang, incredible haptic feedback in the PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers for realistic weapon feedback, headset feedback when you take damage or toggle on night vision goggles, and so much more.
Firewall Zero Hour players know how much we continue to support and build on the game after launch, and that we value feedback from our community – so we will be looking to explore adding more content such as new weapons and contractors, maps, additional game modes, and possibly manual reloads post-launch. Keep an eye out for our operation calendar and more info on our post-launch plans as we get closer to the release of the game. In the meantime, we are excited to reveal that we’ll be offering ways to acquire unique variants of our weapons when playing Firewall Ultra for the first time ever. These unique weapons* will come pre-fitted with great attachments, an exclusive skin, and legendary versions will even have a different look all together.
* Unique Weapons require game progression
We’ve also overhauled the game’s internal infrastructure with an immersive social lobby area and shooting range in our Safehouse between game sessions, dedicated servers to help minimize dropped network connections, and a new best-of-three round-based player-versus-player (PvP) format that will have you spending less time waiting and more time playing. You can read more about all of this in the PlayStation Blog’s hands-on report right here.
What is Firewall Ultra?
Firewall Ultra is the next evolution of the Firewall franchise following the 2018 hit PS VR shooter, Firewall Zero Hour. The primary PvP game mode called Contracts pits two teams of four against each other in a best-of-three series of matches that feature tense tactical combat across a variety of maps.
In each match a defending team must protect a laptop full of classified intel using an assortment of gadgets and weaponry while the attacking team attempts to bypass the security access points and hack the laptop. Tools at your disposal include proximity mines you can place in crafty locations to catch attackers by surprise, door blockers to fortify your position, and many more. Attackers need to tread carefully around maps and work as a team to decrypt the intel before time expires.
It is vital to be aware of your surroundings at all times while playing Firewall Ultra. Nighttime outdoor maps like Oil Rig, as seen in our gameplay trailer, or even the dark, decrepit corners of indoor maps like Office can get incredibly dark and dangerous. Thanks to the dynamic lighting and realistic shadows afforded by Unreal Engine 5, we’re able to deliver an incredible sense of tension, immersion, and visual fidelity in real-time.
Firewall Ultra will feature a brand-new player-versus-environment (PvE) game mode that will let either you by yourself or you and up to three other contractors take on deadly enemy AI across the full selection of maps. It’s a whole new way to play Firewall and we can’t wait to share more about that mode soon.
Cutting-edge FPS immersion
We use eye tracking in a number of ways to enhance actual gameplay in Firewall Ultra. For example, you can close your eyes physically to avoid the blinding light of a flashlight. You can also close your non-dominant eye when aiming down the sight of a gun to make the view even tighter for slightly more precision. These are both natural things players find themselves doing while playing, so we reward you for getting lost in the experience, having a sense of presence, and giving into the immersion.
Using eye tracking you’ll be able to quickly swap weapons on the fly without needing to take time away from the action and foveated rendering ensures you’ll always have a sharp and crisp look into the world thanks to PS VR2’s powerful 4K HDR** display.
Just wait until you play one of the darker maps and witness the dynamic lighting from your side barrel flashlight attachment for the first time. There’s nothing else quite like it.
Finger touch detection and the adaptive triggers elevate things even further, letting you feel the different resistance levels of each weapon in your hand. Pulling the trigger of a pistol is completely different from the trigger on a sniper rifle and experiencing the intense haptic kickback of a shotgun is incredibly visceral. Using the PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers you’ll be able to flip a knife across your fingers for stealth takedowns – or simply show off this nimble hand movement to friends. You can even make realistic hand signals and silent commands to team members for better tactical realism and interactivity. The PS VR2 Sense controllers make for an incredibly immersive game experience.
We leverage the amazing hardware features of PlayStation 5 to make it easier than ever to join your friends. If you see your friends in a game of Firewall Ultra, you can quickly hop directly into the squad immediately from the card in your PS5 Game Base if there’s room. Load times are blazing fast to cut down on friction.
Pre-order details
We want to thank all our fans for patiently waiting on new information to come out about Firewall Ultra and are pleased to reveal that your patience is being rewarded with pre-order and edition details.
Choose between the Firewall Ultra Standard Edition for $39.99 (USD) which includes access to the full game or the Digital Deluxe Edition for $59.99 (USD). When you pre-order Firewall Ultra before launch, you’ll get access to one of our favorite legendary weapons: the Reaper X75. This is included for both Standard and Digital Deluxe Editions when pre-ordered.
For those that purchase the Digital Deluxe Edition, you’ll receive early unlock of four of the game’s contractors (Meiko, Skip, Fang, and Node—pictured above,) which includes their unique skills, as well as alternate outfits for each contractor. The Digital Deluxe Edition will also include four weapon camos that can be applied to customizable weapons in the game and you get access one post-launch Operation Pass*** for Firewall Ultra.
We can’t wait to see you all in-game when Firewall Ultra launches exclusively for PS VR2 on August 24. Don’t forget pre-orders are live now so you can secure everything you need to prepare and be ready to squad up next month!
** Consists of two 2000×2040 OLED displays
*** Access to complete content for one future Operation (date TBA).
PlayStation 5 and PlayStation VR2 required to play. PS VR2 is not for use by children under age 12. Internet connection & PS Plus membership required for online play. PS Plus is subject to a recurring subscription fee taken automatically until cancellation. Full terms: play.st/psplus-usageterms.
