Finnish video game developer Remedy Entertainment has acquired full rights to the Control action franchise from publisher 505 Games. The $18 million deal covers the original 2019 game, as well as its upcoming sequel Control 2, a multiplayer co-op spin-off codenamed Condor, and all potential future releases.
While 505 Games will remain the publisher of the original Control until December 31, 2024, the publishing deal for Control 2 and Condor will end immediately. Remedy said in an investor blog that it has not yet decided whether it will self-publish future instalments of the franchise or find a new third-party publishing partner.
According to Remedy, the two sides settled on a deal price of $18 million because that’s how much 505 was spent on the development of Control 2 and Condor. The developer says it will pay this amount in three cash payments over the next 12 months. Digital Bros, which owns 505 Games, has sold the publishing rights to the popular franchise as it wants to work with fewer games, which it believes can help in “long-term value creation”.
Control is a third-person shooter adventure game released in 2019 and originally available for PS4, Xbox One, and Windows PC. It was later released for the last generation consoles, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Upon release, the game received mostly positive reviews from critics and gamers alike, with many gaming blogs calling it one of the best games of 2019. It became a big hit for Remedy and 505, selling over 4 million copies worldwide.
The next part of the series will be Control 2 with the previous title, which was announced back in November 2022. Remedy has previously announced that it is working on two games in the Control series, including the spin-off Condor. While the developer didn’t reveal much information about the two games, including their likely release dates, game director Mikael Kasurinen described the sequel as “the most exciting project” he’s ever worked on. Remedy hopes that both future releases can repeat the success of the original.
Read also:
- Reliance and Walt Disney are now in a joint venture
- NVIDIA H100 AI GPU is currently being resold as they are becoming more accessible