Remedy Entertainment Shares Updates on Game Development and Tencent Investment
In its quarterly earnings presentation, Remedy Entertainment shared an update on its remake of Max Payne 1 and 2, as well as the news that Tencent has nearly tripled its investment in the studio. In a report for shareholders, Remedy announced that Max Payne 1 & 2 remake is expected to move into 'full production' during Q2 of 2024 (April through June of 2024). Additionally, Codename Kestrel -- Remedy's upcoming multiplayer action game formerly known as Vanguard -- is still in the concept stage. Elsewhere, the Control 2 team is finalizing its proof of concept and is expected to advance to the 'production readiness stage' during Q2.
Codename Condor, a multiplayer game set in the Control universe, is in 'the final development stage before a game is launched,' or full production. With all these games in the cooker, Remedy has received a new infusion of cash from existing stakeholder Tencent. Previously, Tencent acquired a minority (3.8%) stake in Remedy that it later upped to 5%. Today, Remedy announced that Tencent increased its stake again to 14.8%, nearly triple what it was prior. It was a busy period for Remedy.
The company fully acquired rights to the Control franchise from 505 Games, and is currently discussing future partnerships and business and publishing models, including self-publishing. Alan Wake 2 sold 1.3 million units as of the start of February, and Remedy says today that the game has recouped 'a significant part' of its expenses. The company additionally announced today that its COO Christopher Schmitz is resigning, and that long-time Remedy veteran and Control game director Mikael Kasurinen is being appointed as a company-wide creative director. Remedy's revenue for the quarter was up 56.2% year-over-year to EUR10.8 million ($11.6 million). Two planned expansions for Alan Wake 2 are currently in the works, one entitled Night Springs, and a second entitled The Lakehouse.
Neither has a release date just yet. A new financial report from Remedy Entertainment stated that Control spin-off 'Codename Condor' is in full production, but Control 2 remains in conceptual stages. Alan Wake 2 only came out a few months ago, but it seems that developer Remedy Entertainment's next game is in the final stages of development. However, if you were hoping it'd be Control 2, we've got bad news--that one's probably more than a year off, if not more. A recent financial report from Remedy stated that Control spin-off Codename Condor is in 'full production,' which the company defines as 'the final development stage before a game is launched.' It also states that 'wide internal playtests' have found the core loop of the project to be 'engaging' and that it 'brings a unique Remedy angle to the genre.' Remedy's own site calls Condor a multiplayer spin-off of Control, but other details are thin on the ground.
The report further notes that Control 2 (formerly known as Heron) is late in the proof-of-concept stage, while the Max Payne 1 & 2 remake announced in 2022 is in what Remedy calls the 'production readiness' stage, with that project moving into full production in the second quarter of 2024. No release dates for any of these projects are mentioned. The report naturally focuses on the financial health of the company as a whole, with Remedy mentioning that it bought the full rights to the Control franchise from 505 Games in February 2024 for around 17 million euros. Back in February, Remedy announced that Alan Wake 2 sold 1.3 million units so far, with the team continuing to work on DLC for that game. Revenue as a whole for the company increased in Q1 2024 compared to the same period of 2023, though development costs increased due mostly to the Max Payne 1 & 2 remake.
Remedy Entertainment released its business review for January-March 2024, and with it came a number of updates on multiple games for the studio. Regarding its upcoming games, Remedy says that the Max Payne 1&2 remake is scheduled to go into full production in Q2 2024. Control 2 is also expected to move to the production readiness state in Q2 2024. Usually, in software development, the production readiness stage is when an application is ready to operate. Different studios, however, have different variations as to what 'production readiness' means.
'[The] Control 2 team has focused on finalizing the proof-of-concept stage, in which the game world, game mechanics and visual targets are proven,' Remedy CEO Tero Virtala said. Aside from the two games we have names of, Remedy says that Codename Condor, a new game in the Control franchise, is in full production. Lastly from a game's standpoint, project Kestrel is in concept stage after being rebooted from a free-to-play title in 2023. Speaking of Kestrel, the game's publisher Tencent has increased its stake in Remedy. The Chinese-based company now owns nearly 15% of the company.
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