Remedy Entertainment has had a big year, among releasing the award-winning Alan Wake 2 last November, moving into self-publishing, partnering with Annapurna, and making its first multiplayer shooter, FBC: Firebreak. It’s clear to see that Remedy is one of the most ambitious studios around, and it’s really swinging for the fences, as the company has announced Control 2, the sequel to the 2019 hit, will be its first-ever action RPG.
The snippet of info on Control 2 was announced during Remedy’s Capital Markets Day, when the studio presents its financials and plans for the future to investors. You can watch the full presentation at Remedy’s website, if you want.
This is one of the only solid details we have on Control 2, and while simply announcing it’s an action RPG may seem innocuous, it gives us a very good idea of the direction Remedy wants to move in.
Remedy has made its name on action games, from the pulpy grit of Max Payne to the paranormal terror of Alan Wake 2. But for the most part, these have been purely action games. Sure, there’s some room for weapon upgrades and improvements (Control even had perks to equip), but nothing Remedy has done, to this point, could really be called a role-playing game.
It’s important to point out that Remedy has in the past put a big emphasis on genre distinctions. Leading up to Alan Wake 2, the company talked extensively about it being the studio’s first survival horror game and how hard it was leaning into that. Now that everyone’s played Alan Wake 2, you can clearly see the shift in direction from the first Alan Wake — there are similar elements, but Alan Wake 2 feels and plays more like a Resident Evil game than anything. Of course, with Remedy’s own unique twist on the genre. Similarly, Quantum Break was billed as a piece of interactive fiction, which resulted in a live-action TV show that directly interfaced with the game.
Remedy announcing Control 2 as an “action RPG” is no small announcement — it’s a proclamation that this sequel will be as ambitiously different as everything the studio does. It’s hard to say this early exactly how Control 2 will pan out, but it will likely be quite different from the first game, while still retaining those core elements. It’s also likely that player customization and expression will become an even larger component — a core part of any RPG. It’s fascinating to think that Remedy’s next two games are genres that it’s never done before and a stark difference from the vast majority of the industry.
Over the last few years, we’ve been seeing more and more safe sequels that don’t stray too far from the original, plus remakes and remasters that seek to recapture the nostalgia of gamers. Remedy isn’t concerned with all that; it seemingly wants to keep forging ahead and breaking boundaries. Sam Lake, creative director at Remedy, told Inverse just that in 2023 when he said he hopes games can “be bold enough to keep experimenting.”
That’s definitely putting your money where your mouth is, and hopefully, Remedy can pull off these kinds of big swings. The Capital Markets Day presentation does have some fascinating insight in that regard, into how Remedy hopes to make its future experiments successful.
Remedy CEO Tero Virtala laid out a few core ideas for the company moving forward — including games that have a clear target audience and managed budget, retaining the quality and distinctiveness the studio has become known for and investing in multiplayer and social elements as they continue to grow in popularity.
Of course, the key here is that striking out in new directions and making changes inherently comes with a lot of risk attached — especially as video games become bigger and more expensive than ever. The inflation of development costs coupled with mass layoffs have raised major questions around the sustainability of video game development, extremely valid questions. Remedy recognizes all of that, all of the caveats and exceptions that come with the act of creating such complex pieces of media — and why, despite everything, it’s all still worth it.
“Games require long complex productions. Games are cutting-edge technological achievements. Games are hit business; we strive to create commercial hits. All of this is true, all of this is needed, and all of this must be in balance for us to succeed,” Lake said to close out the presentation. “But what else is true, games are ambitious, passionate works of creative expression. Games are high-quality entertainment. What we create at Remedy is special, and we must never lose that.”
