Remedy has shared an inside look at the budgeting and lifetime goals of creating Control 2, as it states the future game is working on a roughly €50 million budget and will need to sell between three and four million copies to improve on its investment costs. The game is a AAA action RPG, which going by traditional genre standards, represents a slight shift in focus for the sequel.
While the first game certainly had an action focus, it lacked most of the elements and features you would consider part and parcel of the RPG genre. This suggests Remedy could be pushing deeper into such mechanics as it works on the follow-up.
The company update also touched on its recently announced PvE shooter set in the Control universe, FBC Firebreak. It's working on a roughly €30 million budget, won't be full price (and is launching straight into PS Plus Extra), and needs to sell around three million copies to see a 100 per cent return on investment.
As for previously released games, Remedy shared the first Control has now sold over 4.5 million units, and has reached 19 million players overall through the likes of subscriptions. Alan Wake 2, meanwhile, currently sits on 1.8 million copies sold. It was recently reported that while it hasn't turned a profit on last year's project yet, it's close to doing so. The team also has remakes of the first two Max Payne games in development, in collaboration with Rockstar Games.
[source investors.remedygames.com]
Comments 21
It would be cool to get an Alan Wake 2 patch to help with the PS5 Pro shimmering, or an acknowledgment they are working on it. Bought a PS5 Pro to play this, and it’s an excellent title. On Ch. 4 Alan, Ch. 7 Saga.
Isn’t their Firebreak game going to be free on both PS+ and Gamepass when it releases? Are they expecting 3 million copies to be sold on PC at full price in order to make their ROI? That seems like wishful thinking since most PC players buy their games when on heavy discount or just pirate them.
I completely trust Remedy to produce a compelling, interesting and beautiful game in Control 2. I won't be touching the PvE game, though. Not really my style. I'm absolutely floored they've only sold 1.8 million copies of Alan Wake 2.
Four million units is a lot!!!
Action RPG is a very crowded genre, I wonder how they are going to position C2 to stand out.
The first one was a chore for me, but this actually makes me curious about this sequel.
@Vovander to me the uniqueness of the universe already makes it stand out but this is a fair point. Remedy is a special studio but they don’t seem to connect with the wider audience with sales.
I loved control remedy’s titles are built on some weird alchemy. A AAA sequel with RPG is a wild concept
I have huge faith in both of these games and I'm very much looking forward to them and wish Remedy all the best. AW2 and Control are top tier in my book.
@Monstermash40
I can't speak for everyone, only myself and some other commenters that I see online; but Alan Wake 2 originally launched Digital Only, and even though I loved Control and and Alan Wake, Digital Only is a no-go.
They eventually released it physically, but I only found out about it accidentally, since I had already written the game off as a no-play.
How many others don't even know it had a physical release? How many have written it off the same way I had? How many aren't willing to pay $80 for a physical copy of year old game?
The audience for different games have different digital/physical splits, and we don't have enough information to tell if this was a large contributing factor, or just a small dent in the overall potential sales; but it paints a pretty clear picture from my point of view.
So 50 Million budget and they need 3-4 Million in sales to be profitable? Yeah the industry is cooked.
I'm no Remedy fan. Control was ok, and AW2 remains unfinished. Best of luck to them.
@thedevilsjester I see what you're saying but more and more people are going digital over physical and that number is only growing. I imagine not having the cost of disc manufacturing would be a bonus early on, but you're right, you only get one first release when most eyes are on you.
I think another contributing factor is it's a sequel to a old game from 2 consoles before. But, boy does it look pretty and atmospheric. I don't know how anyone could look at it and not want to play it.
I loved Control & Alan Wake 2. I think the PvE game is gonna bomb, and 3 to 4 million copies of Control 2 to break even?
I hope they're right, sounds like a big bet to make.
@3Above
If all 4 million sales were at launch price $70, then that's 280 million gross. 30% loss for the platform holder fee would be 196 million profit.
If its anything like Control, it won't hit 3-4 million in that $70 launch window, it will be a long tail. For example Control Ultimate Edition (all the DLC) has very regularly been on sale for $9.99 (and has gone as low as $7.99). (I don't know the price for the base game).
If we went by that price (say $10 for a round number) then 4 million sales would be 40 million gross, or 28 million after the platform holder fees.
The actual profit will be a mixture of these two; and depending on the initial few months sales, will probably be more of the latter than the former.
@3Above Part of the reasons why consolidation is happening. Smaller studios just don't have the capital to produce these large game budgets. $50 million might seem like a lot, but for modern triple A gaming its only the bare minimum. And the risk for some of these small studios if games don't sell to their target, can be catastrophic. And that target is just to break even. They need more to actually make some profit. A superb game like Alan Wake 2 hasn't even made them a profit yet.
Again, not saying im for consolidation.but im not surprised its happening. These smaller studios cant shoulder the financial risk of some of these games. As you say, the industry is cooked.
Firebreak will be dead within a month
@Monstermash40 Being a sequel to an older game most certainly played a role; but even with a lot more people going digital as you mention (anywhere from 60/40 to 40/60 depending on where and when you check), we can average it to 50/50, that means you are losing 50% of potential buyers, which is no small number. Combine these two issues, and its pretty easy to see why it sold poorly.
The number going all digital is misleading though, for example a lot of the digital only buyers, are a newer generation of gamers, which don't hold older games in as high regard. So the target audience for a sequel to a much older game? I would wager that they lean more heavily in the physical direction than the digital. A new IP or a sequel to a more modern game might be different and skew the other direction.
I dont care about the firebreak,im just hyped for Control 2. Bring it on Remedy
Loved the first game, wanna play the sequel now!😖
4million copies to make any money on a £50m game?
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