Summary
- Remedy Entertainment has partnered with Annapurna Interactive to co-finance Control 2 and expand the Control and Alan Wake franchises beyond games.
- Annapurna has secured the movie and TV rights for the Alan Wake and Control IPs to develop adaptations with Remedy.
- The deal will enable Remedy to self-publish Control 2, allowing for more creative freedom.
Renowned developer Remedy Entertainment has announced a "strategic cooperation agreement" with publisher Annapurna Interactive for the development of Control 2, as well as plans to expand the Alan Wake and Control franchises outside of games media. This deal will relinquish the need for Remedy to rely on an external publisher for the long-awaited sequel to 2019's Control, while also helping the series reach a broader audience.
After the release of the critically-acclaimed Alan Wake 2 last year, fans are now looking forward to Remedy's various other projects in development. The studio provided an update on these projects a few weeks ago, confirming that development on Max Payne 1+2 remake and Control 2 was progressing well. As the sister series to Alan Wake, Control 2 is particularly of interest to Remedy fans, and even though it's advancing smoothly in development, the highly anticipated sequel is yet to receive a release window.
In a recent post on its official website, Remedy has now announced a new strategic partnership with Annapurna Interactive that will see both entities co-financing the development of Control 2. The studio says that this collaboration has enabled it to self-publish Control 2, and to make the game "exactly" how it wants to. This is an important step in Remedy's move to begin self-publishing its games, as Alan Wake 2's digital-only distribution model was lamented by a lot of players. Thanks to the new arrangement, Remedy will also receive a "great revenue share" from Control 2's sales once initial investments are recouped.
Control and Alan Wake Are Getting Film and TV Adaptations
As the other party involved in this deal, Annapurna Interactive has a lot to benefit from it as well. The publisher has secured the movie and TV rights to the Alan Wake and Control IPs, and will subsequently work with Remedy to develop adaptations for these mediums. Annapurna will receive a similarly great revenue share from TV and movie sales. Considering Alan Wake 2 was partly inspired by True Detective, as well as the episodic slant of its Night Springs expansion, both the Remedy franchises may translate rather well to movie and TV.
Although this update doesn't do much for fans who have been wondering when Control 2 will launch, it does bode well for the creative underpinnings of the project. Even though Annapurna is funding 50% of Control 2's development, self-publishing the sequel will allow Remedy to launch and distribute it however the studio sees fit. Among all the consternation around its digital-only release, Alan Wake 2 has yet to make a profit, so Control 2 will hopefully fare better financially.
Control
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 84 /100 Critics Rec: 89%
- Released
- August 27, 2019
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Mature: Blood, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Remedy Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- 505 Games
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Northlight Engine
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One
- Genre(s)
- Action, Third-Person Shooter, Supernatural
- How Long To Beat
- 12 Hours
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
