In a new developer diary, senior gameplay animator Annika Lehtinen said that The Hiss and The Mold, the two major antagonistic factions (that we currently know of), have “evolved.” “They’ve become way more complex from the previous game, where we all only had, like, humans, with different guns. So this time, we try to also emphasize, way more, the two factions from each other.”

“The Hiss and the Mold are these factions that we discover in the first game,” said creative director Mikael Kasurinen. “Different paranatural forces, equally dangerous. Of course, they have different identities, and in the way they affect the world, and a different kind of visual appearance and so on.”

After all, as art director Elmeri Raitanen says, the team didn’t just want Control Resonant to “feel like it’s in a post-apocalyptic setting where nature is taking over.” It also wanted The Mold to really come across as this “other dimensional threat.”

“In Resonant, I think, we’ve taken the next step,” added lead gameplay designer Sergey Mohov. “Enemies have very distinct, combat roles. They’re all kinds of different shapes and sizes. Both the Hiss and the Mold have evolved a lot as threats. And they are really good at getting the player to use the right tools, at the right time.”

Interestingly, it seems the real world is having some kind of “influence” on them, per Kasurinen, turning them “more violent, more aggressive, more unpredictable as well, posing a lot of interesting challenges.”

Of course, they’re far from the top of the food chain. As seen in the previous gameplay reveal, there are also the Resonants that players must defeat. You can then return to the Gap, a metaphysical space within Dylan’s mind, to transform them into new abilities.

With how many more tools are available, it makes sense that Remedy would up the challenge that its enemies have to offer. Regardless, we’re going to have a lot of fun figuring out ways to dismantle them when Control Resonant launches later this year for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.

As revealed in a new YouTube Short (of all places), the Gap is available outside of combat and “shifts” to fit whatever protagonist Dylan Faden needs. For instance, this is where his skill trees and Resonant abilities will metaphysically manifest. It’s also where you can access Aberrant upgrades, abilities and talents.

Interestingly, it mentions that you can “craft the perfect build” and test it before venturing back out into Manhattan. This seemingly implies that players have free rein to experiment with different set-ups, and that leaving the Gap will finalize them. It’s a great way to encourage trying other play-styles, if nothing else.

Of course, there’s also mention of selecting rewards earned from defeating the powerful Resonants. We’ll wait for more details to be sure, but the returning Shield from Control 1 is one such ability.

Control Resonant is available later this year on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. It boasts the “biggest gameplay team” that Remedy has ever fielded. However, newcomers can still enjoy it even without experiencing the original.

The last major update, Open House, is now live with no further playable content planned, even though patches will continue to roll out. Servers will remain online, however, with the assurance that it will “continue to be playable for years to come.” “We have done engineering work to ensure we can sustain the upkeep of the relay servers when the player volume is lower.”

It’s also dropping the base game’s price to $19.99 (down from $39.99) while the Deluxe Edition will cost $29.99 (previously $49.99). A Friend’s Pass has also been added, allowing you to invite and play with friends for free. They’ll need to download the Friends Pass version (listed as “Free Trial”) for the same, and it’s cross-platform.

As for the new content, Endless Shift will receive five new arenas based on Control – the Executive Sector’s Cafeteria, the Maintenance Sector’s Aircon Room, Ranger HQ and Turntable, and the Research Sector’s Ritual Lobby. Several balance adjustments have also been made, with Harmful Conditions having a shorter duration and Perks only needing to be equipped once to obtain their highest level.

Crawling speed is also faster when downed, while revive speed is now three seconds instead of five. Check out all the other changes here.

While this is the end of Firebreak, the story will continue in Control Resonant. Launching later in 2026, it takes place seven years after the first game and focuses on Dylan Faden, Jesse’s brother, as he explores a Manhattan engulfed in a paranatural catastrophe.

Available earlier this month, the upgraded upscaler offered even higher image quality for supporting games, starting with Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem. You can expect the same for Control Ultimate Edition and Alan Wake 2, with Remedy promising “noticeable improvements in image stability and clarity of motion.”

Which is interesting because when it first implemented PSSR for Alan Wake 2, it received no shortage of criticism. Of course, Remedy worked to improve on this, adding ray-traced reflections in Quality Mode and an improved resolution in Performance Mode. It also eventually provided the option to turn off PSSR.

Upgraded PSSR must be enabled separately as well, so those who don’t like it can continue to enjoy both titles in their current PS5 Pro iterations. When these will be available is unknown, but Remedy says “soon.”

Of course, with its older titles embracing the same, it seems a given that Control Resonant will follow. It was recently confirmed to feature Path Tracing and RTX Mega Geometry on PC at launch later this year, so stay tuned for updates.

A new trailer, available courtesy of Nvidia, highlights the sheer detail delivered by DLSS Ray Reconstruction. However, even more intriguing is the use of RTX Mega Geometry, revealed last year by the GPU manufacturer as a means to “build ray tracing structures 100x faster than previous methods, enabling full‑fidelity path tracing with advanced detail and real‑time tessellation.”

Interestingly, Remedy already employed the technology in Alan Wake 2, which helped reduce VRAM usage by 300 MB and boosted frame rate performance by five to 20 percent. If it looks half as stunning as it did in the former, then we can’t wait to explore the multi-layered depths of Manhattan and see how far the ray-traced rabbit hole goes.

Control Resonant is launching later this year for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. It boasts Remedy’s “biggest gameplay team” yet, and while serving as a sequel to the original, taking place seven years after, it still “stands on its own feet.” A release date remains unknown, but it’s currently in the alpha stage with the studio aiming for 60 FPS on all platforms. Stay tuned for more updates and head here for details on the different forms that Dylan’s Aberrant can take.

“We call it the sequel, and it is a sequel, but it’s also an independent product that stands on its own feet. And to me, these games go together like two siblings,” he said. “Each belongs to the same family, but they have their own identity and desires and own fates, and they are connected.”

Interestingly, he says Dylan’s traipse through Manhattan to defeat The Hiss and other paranatural threats (including some new ones) is a “reverse journey compared to Jesse.” The latter was confined to the Oldest House, having to survive and understand its intricacies to emerge as Director of the FBC. By contrast, Dyland has spent his whole life within those Brutalist walls and is seeing the real world after a long time.

“Going from that isolation, captivity, that strange place that is normal to him to the outside world,” said Kasurinen. “And that outside world is weird and strange to him, yet familiar to us. And there’s something really exciting about that.”

Launching this year, Control Resonant is a big departure from the original in that it features an “open-ended” world. While you’re free to pursue the story, players can also explore the nooks and crannies of Manhattan, meeting with the few remaining civilians and uncovering secrets.

As you progress, Dylan can advance the Aberrant, unlocking new skills for the Primary and Secondary Forms while also defeating the powerful Resonants and adding their abilities to his repertoire. Head here for more details, but whether you’re a completionist or in it for the story, it’s shaping up to be Remedy’s “biggest and most ambitious game” yet.

“Story has always been in the center of Remedy Games, and story is super important for us as well,” he said. “But when it comes to the second-to-second combat and traversal, we really go to town with gameplay, and we already did that with Control. With Resonant, we are taking it to the next level.”

Creative director Mikael Kasurinen noted that returning players would see “a lot of familiar faces” and “familiar phenomena”, including The Hiss and Mold (which you’ll probably remember from FBC Firebreak). However, the team is “introducing a lot of new things as well.”

“It’s a fun layering of familiar things, but definitely facing new challenges,” says senior community manager Vida Starčević. “I think the team really poured a lot of themselves into this game and really listened to the community and to their love and to their criticism for Control and just improved on it in Control Resonant.”

With the studio existing for 30 years and Kasurinen noting the “really loyal fan base” that meant a lot to it, he also considers Resonant to have a “special meaning to us.”

“What we wanted to do was make sure that the fans get to experience the things that they’ve experienced with all the Remedy games in the past, yet at the same time, we wanted to do something new and unexpected, something that we’re also invested in and excited about to expand the universe and do new things.”

Control Resonant takes place seven years after the first game and features Dylan Faden as the protagonist. Having recently woken from a coma, he’s just in time to witness Manhattan becoming utterly twisted due to a paranatural crisis. Armed with the Aberrant, a shape-shifting weapon, and his own psychic powers, he works with the Federal Bureau of Control, including newcomer Zoe de Vera, to save the world.

Of course, he’s also searching for his sister, Jesse, who’s gone missing. While Remedy confirmed that the latter would play a part in the story, she’s unfortunately not playable.

Control Resonant will be available later this year for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. It’s currently in the alpha stage, which makes a release in the second half of 2026 seem fairly reasonable, but stay tuned for a proper release date announcement in the coming months.

However, we may have to wait until the second half of the year for its release. In a new preview, IGN revealed that it’s currently in the alpha stage, and they haven’t seen “a continuous, uninterrupted section of gameplay.” Which may sound like a cause for concern, but it could very well enter the beta stage imminently and spend the rest of the year polishing.

It’s probably unsurprising to learn that Northlight, Remedy’s own proprietary engine, has seen some upgrades, including improved draw distance and more enemies on screen. It’s also targeting 60 frames per second on all platforms. However, given releases like Alan Wake 2, you have to wonder if it will have different graphical modes for consoles (including PS5 Pro).

Control Resonant doesn’t have a launch window, but it’s coming later this year to Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. If you’re expecting that Jesse Faden ends up playable in some capacity, well, you might want to sit down for this one.

Mild spoilers for the story follow at this point, so if you’d prefer to go in blind, this is your only warning.

According to Hidden Machine, which attended a preview event alongside other publications, Jesse is still part of the story. Granted, Remedy didn’t outright confirm whether she and Dylan cross paths. For all we know, she could be the final villain, or even have a separate DLC story. Whatever the case may be, she’s not playable in the base game.

As for new characters, there’s Zoe de Vera, played by Frankie Kevich, the English voice of Rinko in Silent Hill f. We’ve heard her talking to Dylan in the recent gameplay walkthrough, but she seems to be the one who actually woke him up from his coma. Interestingly, alongside old and new FBC personnel, you’ll also run into the few remaining civilians in Manhattan.

Control Resonant launches later this year for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Head here for more details on the combat and how Dylan can wield Aberrant to cause some serious damage.

Essentially, attacking enemies with your melee weapon, the Aberrant, will recharge your Combat Abilities, which can stun enemies. You can then execute them for increased melee damage, albeit for a period, and the cycle begins anew. The Aberrant has Primary and Secondary Forms with unique skills (like launching enemies in the air by attacking after a dodge), and you can also unlock Combo Enders for more damage.

However, if you’re looking for something a little different, then Remedy has you covered. “For example, you might lean into a heavy close-range build or opt for a more tactical setup using summons like Mold Turrets, which attack independently and apply harmful status effects,” says Huttunen. And since this is an action RPG, you can expect “detailed stat breakdowns” which “make build performance transparent and readable.”

As for Abilities, they’re obtained by defeating Resonants, the powerful bosses that await in Manhattan. For example, Seekers, which will summon an “increasingly volatile telekinetic entity” to attack enemies. You can also launch it at enemies for major damage.

By entering the Gap, “a dreamlike space tied to Dylan’s psyche, simply by pressing down on the directional pad of the DualSense controller,” players can customize them further. You also have Talents for improving the “synergy between abilities and melee attacks.”

Intriguingly enough, Huttunen says these “aren’t the only systems at play.” Furthermore, progression is designed in such a way that not everything is unlockable in one playthrough. While reinforcing real choices to tailor your build, it may also subtly hint at the presence of New Game Plus.

Control Resonant is available later this year for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Check out the extensive gameplay showcase from State of Play.