While Alan Wake 2 is Remedy Entertainment’s newest big release, it does still have a couple of other titles on the go. The studio has confirmed in a recent financial report that Max Payne 1 and 2 remakes have “progressed into the production readiness stage,” while work on Control 2 and its co-op spinoff are also chugging along.
The financial snapshot noted that while Alan Wake 2 is so far receiving universal praise from critics and players, it’s too soon to comment on sales success – although the positive reception gives the horror title a “strong basis for good long-term sales.”
CEO Tero Virtala discussed the progress of Remedy’s ongoing projects in the report, with the Max Payne remakes moving forward with production. “We have gained clarity on the style and scope of the game, and we have an exceptionally well-organized team working on it. With these accomplishments, we are excited about the project and its future success,” Virtala said. The remakes for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S are a joint venture between Remedy and Rockstar Games, as the Alan Wake 2 studio handles development and Rockstar finances it.
Control 2 is a bit further behind as it continues in the proof of concept stage, according to the report. “The plans for this sequel are ambitious, and we have seen good progress both in the designs and in the game build,” he said. This phase is expected to continue for some time yet before “moving to the next stage and scaling up the team.”
Meanwhile, the four-player co-op Control spinoff Condor has “progressed from the proof-of-concept to the production readiness stage.” Virtala says the studio has “acquired valuable insights into developing service-based games and are now in a better position to create a game players can engage with for years.”
The studio’s fourth named project, Codename Vanguard (a free-to-play, co-op PvE shooter) is in the process of “defining the next stages of the project” with Remedy’s publishing partner, with the aim of completing the proof-of-concept stage by the end of 2023.
It seems like all hands are on deck as Remedy scales up and works to release a range of titles off the back of Alan Wake 2. Virtala says all four ongoing projects will “benefit from the additional talent transferring from Alan Wake 2 as it will enable the teams to take the necessary steps towards the next stages of development.” He also confirmed the studio would “continue enhancing” their newest release through new updates and the two recently-announced expansions, with the first (Night Springs) expected in 2024.
Despite what seems to be an exponential spool-up on multiple projects, the success of Alan Wake 2 could lead to some delays in these plans. When Control launched, work on the sequel was delayed due to the game’s positive reception. During an investors Q&A, Virtala said the situation with Control was “very positive”. According to Virtala, Remedy will benefit from the interest in the game from different industry partners who wanted to see the game grow and expand to new platforms. However, this did require members from the Control, Northlight (Remedy’s game engine), and other support teams to shift focus from the sequel. “This is also an opportunity that we now need to keep an eye on, and then evaluate if it will have some effect on some of the schedules that we have,” Virtala said of Alan Wake 2 potentially seeing similar results.
Alan Wake 2 continues to wow critics and audiences as more players jump into the game (and more reviewers get a chance to put together their thoughts on the survival horror) so it’s highly likely that the studio might have another Control situation on their hands that pushes back their other projects – but fans will have plenty of content to give them their Remedy fix between the upcoming DLC and other updates in the meantime.
Lead Image Credit: Remedy Entertainment / Rockstar Games
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