Quantum Break is a 2016 action-adventure third-person shooter video game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft Studios for Windows and Xbox One.

Quantum Break was the best-selling new intellectual property published by Microsoft since the launch of Xbox One, though the record was broken two years later by Sea of Thieves.

[21] Doused in chronon radiation, the material that makes time travel possible, Jack Joyce and Paul Serene are granted time-based abilities; for example, both can freeze time and move at higher speeds, whilst a higher dose of chronons means Serene can see into the future to decide which choices to make in the present.

When he refuses, Paul orders the library demolished, leaves Will for dead, and takes Jack prisoner along with two witnesses, Nick and Amy.

With Will's documents noting that the CFR disappeared in 2010, Jack and Beth plot to head to 2010 and steal it, closing a causal loop.

Reaching Paul's lab, Jack finds and receives Wincott’s aid or fights high-level Monarch security officer Liam Burke.

Acquiring the CFR, Jack learns that Paul was using it to power a lifeboat, a small bunker where researchers could devise a solution to the end of time while protected from it.

Unable to work the CFR, Jack uses Monarch's time machine (equipped with the stolen university core) to travel back to its first activation: the night of Will's death.

Will warns Jack he cannot simply repair the fracture then and there, as it would erase key future events and risk a time paradox.

The CFR activates and blasts the area with chronons, which in turn restabilises but does not fully repair the damage done to the Meyers-Joyce field and also disintegrates Paul.

As Will examines the CFR, burnt out from the blast, Jack has a vision of his future self-traveling to the end of time and begins exhibiting symptoms of chronon syndrome.

[37] To add dimensions, the team took inspirations from postmodern literature and included many self-references, such as a standalone TV show called Alan Wake's Return.

There are approximately 40 variations in the game TV show, triggered by "quantum ripples", which unlock deleted scenes and give players additional insight on the story, and junction points.

Junction points were a tool used by Remedy to add replayability to the game, unlocking alternate content and changing the state of the world,[40] and the gameplay segments remain identical regardless of players' choices.

[41] To keep both parts consistent, the team also consulted a filmmaker who gave them advice regarding the game's camera styles and depth of field to allow smooth transitions between the two mediums.

[33] With Microsoft's funding, Remedy hired lots of high-profile actors, including Shawn Ashmore, Aidan Gillen, Lance Reddick and Dominic Monaghan.

The levels in the game were designed to feature open environments to allow players to use the time manipulation powers freely and encouraging them to explore.

[53] The team also used Digital Molecular Matter, a technology developed by Pixelux that allows structures and objects to react in the game the same way they would in reality.

[55] The team spent a lot of resources in carrying out detailed motion capture, to enhance players' engagement with the story and make it easier for them to form emotional attachments to characters, and to keep the game and the TV show consistent with each other.

[41] Lake added that one of the challenges when recording motion capture is to convince the inexperienced actors, who thought that the system lacked complexity, not to overact.

[43] The team initially did the recording at Los Angeles, where actors need to wear spandex suits with tracking marks and head cameras.

When time enters a stutter, many audio effects change, with guns firing at a lower pitch, while dialogue and music began stretching.

As the TV show served to expand on the story and provide explanation, the music reflects the "ideas of intrigue, deception, tension, love, and loss".

[73] This created a backlash among players, who criticized Microsoft for misleading them into buying an Xbox One by not revealing the PC version's existence when the game was announced.

Alan Wake, along with its two downloadable special episodes "The Signal" and "The Writer", as well as American Nightmare, would be available for free for players who purchased the game through backward compatibility.

Brett Makedonski from Destructoid praised it for offering a very entertaining experience and engaging players from start to finish,[86] while Takahashi thought that the narration was "ambitious".

[97] The game's narrative objects were praised for providing players new insights by Buchholtz,[87] though Houghton and Brown criticized them for breaking the flow of gameplay and containing too much significant story information.

Timothy J. Seppala from Engadget considered it "a legitimate reason to buy an Xbox One",[101] and Loveridge and Gies thought that Remedy had set a foundation for future storytelling by blending the two mediums together, making this game a unique title.

[92][91] The PC version was poorly received due to numerous performance and stability issues, mostly on Nvidia GPUs,[103] along with restrictions imposed by the Universal Windows Platform which prevented third-party workarounds.

[107] Quantum Break was the best-selling retail game in its first week of release in the UK, outselling competitor Dirt Rally by 139 sales.