Alan Wake 2 and Control studio Remedy Entertainment has released its financial statement for 2023, and things aren't looking too rosy for the studio right now, although there are reasons to stay optimistic.
According to a report released earlier today, revenue between January and December 2023 decreased by 22% in comparison to the previous year, while the period between October and December saw a 24.4% decline.
CEO Tero Virtala says that the drop in revenue can largely be attributed to "significantly increased investments in [Remedy's] own game projects", as well as November's Project Vanguard reboot, which saw the studio switch the as-yet-unreleased title from free-to-play to premium.
Virtala points to the strong sales of Alan Wake 2, as well as Remedy regaining control (ahem) over the Control franchise from former publisher 505 Games, as positive steps for the studio.
He says that the Control 2 team have been working on "world-building and combat" during 2023's fourth quarter, while the Condor team has been focusing on the combat and game mechanics of its title.
According to Virtala, Project Condor, the studio's upcoming Max Payne remakes, and Control 2 will all "advance to the next stages of development" in the first half of this year, so we may well hear more about them sooner rather than later.
The two Max Payne remakes, which are being overseen by IP owner Rockstar, will, according to Virtala, enjoy a similar budget to Alan Wake 2, so the production values on them should be pretty high.
In terms of its 2024 outlook, Remedy says it expects its financial fortunes to improve, although the extent of this growth will be based on whether Remedy chooses to self-publish Control 2 and Condor or to seek a new publisher.
We'll have to wait and see what the future holds for Remedy. Stay tuned for more on this.
