Remedy was “as thrilled as Finns can be” to announce yesterday that it had secured funding for a Control sequel as part of a co-financing deal with Annapurna, which is also helping the Alan Wake studio bring its connected universe to “film, television and beyond.”
While I’m pretty excited to see what the coffee-crazed minds behind Threshold Kids can come up with under that tantalizing “beyond” label, I’ll leave the speculation alone from now on. Here’s the lowdown from Remedy’s Director of Communications, Thomas Puha:
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What does this mean for you, our fans? First and foremost, it means that Remedy is able to make Control 2 exactly the game we want it to be, while we now have an incredible partner to expand our IPs into other mediums. We will also be publishing Control 2 ourselves. When I look at all the games we have in the pipeline, the future of Remedy is incredibly exciting. You can trust us to continue to deliver incredible gaming experiences.
And here's what Sammy-Sammy Lake-Lake had to say about it. I can call it that because we're buddies*:
“I am absolutely thrilled (yes!) about this opportunity to expand the story of Alan Wake and our Remedy Connected universe beyond gaming, and to build it all in close collaboration, across gaming, film, television and beyond, under a unified vision. I am confident that Annapurna is the ideal partner to help us realize this dream.”
*No real friends
That doesn't mean AMC's Alan Wake show won't happen, though. “We left AMC amicably because their rights to Alan Wake expired,” Puha told Games Radar.
Annapurna is of course responsible for games like the popular space puzzler Outer Wilds, the best game ever made, Neon White, and Stray, all published under their Annapurna Interactive label. On the other side of the coin, Annapurna has a mixed reputation when it comes to supporting partner developers. A few years ago, People Make Games published a report on “Three Indie Superstars Accused of Emotional Abuse,” all of whom had published games under Annapurna Interactive and allegedly failed to provide support during the cases that came to light.
Remedy's last game was Alan Wake 2, which had yet to turn a profit as of February. “A stylistic tour de force and one of the most unique and self-assured horror games of recent years,” Katharine (RPS at Peace) decreed in her review. “It may not hit every beat perfectly, but Remedy's zany, over-the-top sense of humor helps provide the necessary levity to its thrills and genuine jump scares.”