Remedy Says Control’s Co-op Spinoff Is Closer Than You Think
A little peek behind the curtain.
With Alan Wake 2 sweeping in the latest of its accolades this game awards season, Finnish developer Remedy Entertainment is busy working on some long-awaited voyages back into its extended universe.
Remedy is working on a co-op multiplayer shooter dubbed Codename Condor. Remedy has said the game will tie into the tales of the Federal Bureau of Control, the fictional agency at the center of Remedy’s supernatural 2019 game. The company says that the game’s development is almost over and it’s fairly happy with its current state, according to a business report released on Monday.
We don’t know much about Remedy’s co-op multiplayer game Codename Condor, aside from this somewhat cryptic first screenshot.
“Based on wide internal playtests, we can see that the core loop is engaging, and the game brings a unique Remedy angle to the genre,” the business report reads.
Little is known about the multiplayer game, but Remedy confirmed in their 2023 Annual Report last month that it will be a “service-based game,” a first for the developer.
Fans of 2019’s game of the year are eating well, as the company says progress on Control 2 has been steady. The team is currently working on the sequel’s game mechanics, world-building, and visuals. Remedy expects Control 2 will get closer to Codename Condor’s level of polish by the second quarter of this year.
Hard-boiled New York City cop Max Payne is set for one hell of a facelift in Remedy’s remake of the seminal third-person shooter.
Remedy says its mysterious collaboration with Rockstar Games is also chugging along smoothly and will move into full production in the second quarter of 2024. The game will be a total ground-up remake of 2001’s Max Payne and its 2005 sequel subtitles The Fall Of Max Payne.
Finally, the studio is looking to create an entirely new world, dubbed Codename Kestrel. That project is still in the ideation phase, with the team working “to refine the game concept.”
It’s an exciting time for followers of Remedy. While the developer has mostly found success with smaller cult hits since its foundation in 1995, Remedy hit its stride with the release of Control, a spooky, surrealist third-person shooter. Since then, Remedy become one of the industry’s most interesting independent studios thanks to its signature fusion of live-action video, strong gameplay, enchanting homages to similarly challenging pieces of pop culture, and a willingness to get weird with its original concepts.
Alan Wake 2 earned accolades at the D.I.C.E. Awards, the Game Developer’s Choice Awards, and most recently the BAFTAs for its game design and narrative.
Monday’s report also included some insight into how Alan Wake 2 is performing at retail. As of February, the game sold 1.3 million copies. Remedy confirmed that the game has managed to recoup a significant amount of its marketing and development costs, even at its full price. This year, it’s working on Alan Wake 2 DLC to keep the momentum going and fans satiated.
Remedy bought the full rights to own the Control universe from Italy-based game publisher 505 Games back in February. It’s now abundantly clear why.
“We can freely choose the right model with which to grow our two franchises and expand the Remedy Connected Universe,” the business report says. “We are confident that the good progress of the beginning of the year carries over.”
Remedy is currently hosting bi-weekly live streams on YouTube and Twitch looking back at the final four years of development for Alan Wake 2. The streams feature development team members speaking candidly about creating one of 2023’s best games. Remedy is also taking questions from viewers about how the modern horror classic came together. The ongoing series is providing a bit of transparency as to how they’re putting together future projects right now.
