Below are the official FAQ answers from Microsoft with annotations (in red) by The Sudden Stop when new information about a question was revealed.
What is Quantum Break?
Quantum Break is a revolutionary entertainment experience and new IP from Remedy Entertainment and Microsoft Studios. Its part hard-hitting video game, part in-game live-action show, both featuring a stellar cast, and is full of the vivid storytelling, rich characters and dramatic twists Remedy are renowned for. Choices in-game will affect the outcome of the fast-paced fusion between game and show, illustrating one story perceived in many ways for a completely unique entertainment experience; play the game to understand the heroes, watch the in-game show to discern the villains.
Can you upgrade and unlock new time powers?
You unlock Time Powers throughout the story. You can customize the powers by finding hidden Chronon Sources in the environments, which you can find by using Time Vision to show the areas where you can find these. You can then use the accumulated Chronon Sources to customize your Time Powers.
What is the storyline of Quantum Break?
Time has been broken. A Fracture in time, created by a time travel experiment that has gone wrong, is advancing at an inexorable pace. As a result, time itself is now stuttering to a halt and then restarting, causing the world to turn into a frozen tableau. Most are unaware of the imminent disaster.
Jack Joyce is not one of these people: changed by the same experiment, he can see the damage as the Fracture advances; time keeps slipping more and more out of joint and as the world loses synchronization, destruction on a massive scale ensues. Jack is desperately trying to find a way to prevent the Fracture from reaching its conclusion – that final moment when the last grain of sand in the hourglass tumbles down, and time ends. But his best friend Paul Serene and the ruthless Monarch Solutions have their own plans, and Jack’s efforts don’t line up with them. They are willing to use whatever means necessary to stop
What engine is Quantum Break using?
Quantum Break runs on Remedy’s own Northlight engine featuring state of the art graphics engine. Northlight has been developed throughout the history of Remedy and includes a suite of tools that are all designed to enable the best possible gameplay and story-telling.
What is the live-action in-game show?
Featuring a stellar cast, the in-game show is a broadcast quality show that is an important piece of the overall story. What you see as part of the in-game show is based on the choices you make in the game. The in-game decisions are combined with the show to illustrate one story perceived in many ways for a completely unique entertainment experience. Play the game to understand the heroes, watch the show to understand the villains.
Do the game and live-action show series have the same storyline?
Not exactly. Quantum Break is one story perceived in many ways for a unique entertainment experience. While there are overlaps – in the game you follow the heroes, and in the live-action in-game show you follow the villains – it is still just one storyline as fans help Jack Joyce battle the high-tech Monarch troops before the world is forever frozen in the last moment that ever existed.
What is the storyline of the live-action in-game show?
When Charlie Wincott (a young computer hacker and digital “cleaner” for Monarch Solutions) is contacted by Liam Burke (an elite Security Officer) to help track down Jack Joyce, they begin to see that time is breaking down and the end is coming. As they dig deeper, they uncover not only Serene’s plans, but those of his right hand man, Martin Hatch as they fight to figure out how to survive.
Who is creating the live-action show?
In partnership with Remedy and Lifeboat Productions, Quantum Break's stellar cast is headed by Executive Producer Jaime Burke, writers Ron Milbauer, Terri Hughes and Josh Corbin, Director Ben Ketai, Director of Photography Timothy A. Burton, and the Production Designer Gabor Norman, as well as the team at Remedy headed by Sam Lake.
What can you tell us about the cast of Quantum Break?
That cast spans both the game and show, 8 of which that appear in both. These are true digital doubles, not just actor voices that are shared so it is unmistakably the same character in both mediums. Most of these characters have a bigger role in one medium than the other due to the perspective being told.
What other actors/actresses will be in Quantum Break? What roles will each play?
We’re excited to be working with such high-profile and recognizable Hollywood talent as well as great established and up-and-coming actors for Quantum Break.
Shawn Ashmore (“X-Men: Days of Future Past”) as Jack Joyce
Dominic Monaghan (“Lost”) as William Joyce
Aidan Gillen (“Game of Thrones”) as Paul Serene
Lance Reddick (“The Wire”) as Martin Hatch
Marshall Allman (“Prison Break”) as Charlie Wincott
Patrick Heusinger (“Black Swan”) as Liam Burke
Courtney Hope as Beth Wilder
Sean Durrie as Nick Masters
Jeannie Bolet as Kate Ogawa
Jaqueline Pinol as Sofia Amaral
What’s included in the Xbox One Special Edition Quantum Break Bundle?
The Xbox One Special Edition Quantum Break Bundle will be available for $349 USD and includes: the Xbox One 500GB Cirrus White console, a Cirrus White Xbox One wireless controller with 3.5mm headset jack, a 14-day Xbox Live Gold membership trial, a full-game download of Quantum Break and a full-game download of Alan Wake with The Signal and The Writer DLC content, playable via Xbox One Backward Compatibility.
In what regions will the Xbox One Special Edition Quantum Break Bundle be available?
The Xbox One Special Edition Quantum Break Bundle will be available participating retailers in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Netherlands (Microsoft store only), Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States. Please check with your local retailer for more information.
Alan Wake / Alan Wake’s American Nightmare Q&A
Alan Wake and its accompanying two add-on packs The Signal and The Writer will be included with every new purchase of the Xbox One version of Quantum Break. Additionally, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare will be available as a pre-order bonus for anyone who pre-orders the Xbox One version of Quantum Break at participating retailers or on the Xbox Live store.
What more can you tell me about the integration between the live-action in-game show and the playable portion of the game?
Quantum Break is part hard-hitting video game, part thrilling live-action in-game show featuring a stellar cast. It includes vivid storytelling, rich characters and dramatic twists Remedy Entertainment are renowned for. Choices you make in the game affect the outcome of the fast-paced fusion between the playable portion of the game and live-action in-game show, illustrating one story perceived in many ways for a completely unique entertainment experience. Play the game to understand the heroes, watch the show to understand the villains.
Two narratives, one story. The game and show each have their own narrative that’s great on its own. Together they create a rich, complex, highly unique and thoroughly captivating experience.
What are Junctions in Time and how will they affect the game?
At the end of each act of the game, the player gets to play as the villain Paul Serene and makes a choice in a short playable junction moment. These decisions have a significant impact on the story of Quantum Break and what happens to the characters. Junctions in Time will allow you to direct the experience by interacting with the narrative and changing the direction of the show.
What are some of the key gameplay features that make Quantum Break unique?
“Quantum Break” is helmed by Remedy Entertainment, masters of creating cinematic experiences that seamlessly blend innovative, adrenaline-fueled gameplay with deep and thoughtful narrative. The new gameplay and live-action scenes we’re showing during this visit will show a glimpse of the game’s progression and what to expect when the game launches on Apr. 5, 2016, including time manipulation features which fuel great action gameplay:
Time Amplified Combat. Blending gunplay with time powers allows players to outsmart and outmaneuver their enemies, creating a unique cat and mouse style of cinematic gunplay.
Frozen Scenes of Drama. When time stops, Jack (and the player) get to explore the world from a very unique perspective. Walk right through a riot, taking in every expression and emotion, captured in perfect fidelity.
What time powers will the player be able to use as Jack Joyce?
Quantum Break blends gunplay with time powers to allow players to outsmart and outmaneuver their enemies. Abilities that will be part of the player’s arsenal include:
Time Stop – Hit enemies with Time Stop to slow them down and supercharge your bullets. Inside the Stops area of effect, time runs considerably slower and bullets fired into the area of effect gain power.
Time Dodge – Quickly move a short distance as time briefly slows down during and after the Time Dodge (when transitioning into aim), allowing the player to pull off spectacular enemy kills.
Time Shield – Create a shield around yourself to protect from incoming bullets. Great for reloading your weapon under enemy fire.
Why did it take so many years to create Quantum Break ?
Figuring out a time travel story from multiple characters’ perspective has been challenging to say the least. In addition to a compelling narrative, creating characters with Remedy’s visual fidelity takes time. A brand new IP and a game engine are being built at the same time, both of which are extremely complicated things to pull off.
The development is in the home stretch now though, and Quantum Break will be released on April 5th 2016 on Xbox One.
Will Quantum Break have multiplayer?
Quantum Break is a single player experience.
Who is in the cast of Quantum Break ?
We are thrilled to have an amazing cast for Quantum Break.
Shawn Ashmore – Jack Joyce
Aidan Gillen – Paul Serene
Dom Monaghan – William Joyce
Courtney Hope – Beth Wilder
Sean Durrie – Nick Masters
Jeannie Bolet – Kate Ogawa
Jaqueline Pinol – Sofia Amaral
How long is the Quantum Break campaign?
The game consists of five acts with four live-action episodes. As the storyline and character fates in both the game and the show are impacted by the choices the players make, there are quite a few different permutations that can happen. There is a lot of replay value in Quantum Break, and the campaign length depends on the way you play the game. The live-action part itself is already about two hours total.
Is the in-game show just live-action cut scenes?
No, Quantum Break has cut scenes rendered in the game engine to tell the story when necessary as you are playing just like any other story driven game. The Quantum Break in-game show is a broadcast quality show that is an important piece of the overall story that focuses on a different perspective and is shaped by your choices in the game.
So just how does this mix of gameplay and live action work?
Quantum Break is helmed by Remedy Entertainment, masters of creating cinematic experiences that seamlessly blend innovative, adrenaline-fueled gameplay with deep and thoughtful narrative. It’s part hard-hitting video game, part thrilling live-action in-game show featuring a stellar cast. Choices you make in the game affect the outcome of the fast-paced fusion between the playable portion of the game and live-action in-game show, illustrating one story perceived in many ways for a completely unique entertainment experience. Play the game to understand the heroes, watch the show to understand the villains. Time manipulation features which fuel great action gameplay include:
Who is developing Quantum Break?
Quantum Break is being developed by Remedy Entertainment, the critically acclaimed game studio that brought you “Alan Wake” and “Max Payne”. Remedy is based in Helsinki, Finland.
The in-game show portion is being produced in conjunction with Lifeboat Productions, helmed by award-winning producers Amy Kim and Jaime Burke.
When is Quantum Break coming out and for what platform?
Quantum Break is coming to Xbox One and Windows 10 on April 5th 2016.
Official TV and Game FAQ (via Microsoft)
