Revealed in this gamesindustry.biz feature on Remedy Entertainment published today
Control's standing as a creative work is beyond question, but when Remedy set out to reinvent the way it made games in 2016, it was done as much in the name of stability as artistic freedom. The fact that we never got an Alan Wake 2 was not Remedy's decision -- more on that soon, we hope -- and it saw the power to make those choices as absolutely central to a brighter future for its business. A game like Control will always be a gamble, of course, but Remedy now has more influence on exactly how long it can wait for that gamble to pay off.
"Control was developed in three years with a budget of less than €30 million," says Remedy CEO Tero Virtala. "We don't quite require the same huge lifetime numbers as many other games with bigger development budgets. Therefore, even though Control didn't have chart-topping sales right from the get go, we are in a good position with steady sales. We always take the long view here.
"Nowadays, the majority of sales for many games are generated over a long period of time in digital stores -- and Control continues to sell, which is good. We are bringing more free and paid content to the game. It has the proven high-quality and uniqueness, and the word-of-mouth that keeps growing. There is still a big audience out there that hasn't yet heard of Control. These are all factors that support the longer-term sales.
"Strategically, it has been highly important that we have succeeded in establishing a new brand. In our industry, this is very challenging: new games come every now and then, but very few break through and become something special. It is of course still very early days, but Control is showing good signs of establishing itself and having a growing fan base."