Control 2 has entered full production at Remedy Entertainment, which means development on the sequel to the studio’s beloved 2019 action-adventure hit is now officially in full swing. Not long before entering this stage of production, in November last year, Remedy revealed that Control 2 was being developed on a budget of €50 million, and now, the studio has shed more light on that front.
Interestingly enough, Control 2 is being developed on a smaller budget than Alan Wake 2. Speaking with Game File, Remedy CEO Tero Virtala revealed that the 2023 survival horror title’s budget was actually “a bit higher” than what Remedy has earmarked for Control 2. “I think with that we can create excellent games,” Virtala said, and added that a game built on that budget would be able to break even even at 2 million copies sold.
“That then builds the basis that, if we create an excellent game and it happens to sell four million or five million units, then we are really happy,” he continued.
In February, Remedy Entertainment announced that Alan Wake 2 had sold over 2 million units, recouping development and marketing costs.
Ballooning development budgets have been an increasingly worrying issue for the games industry over recent years, and it’s fair to say that they’ve been a major factor in widespread industry problems, from studio closures to mass layoffs. In that context, Remedy choosing to build on the success of its last major release by building its next big game on a smaller development budget, and not instead succumbing to the desire to aim for bigger and better in every way possible, is certainly a refreshing change of pace.
