Alan Wake developer Remedy Entertainment has announced that it has acquired all rights to the Control series from publisher 505 Games for €17 million.
As detailed in an investor announcement on Remedy's website, the rights acquisition includes publishing, distribution and marketing rights for the supernatural third-person shooter game in 2019. The entire Control franchise is covered, including 2019's debut game, the upcoming Control 2 and multiplayer spins. Codenamed “Condor” and departs from all future titles in the series.
Remedy's publishing agreements with 505 Games for Control 2 and Condor will terminate immediately, with 505 continuing to serve as Control's publisher until the end of the transition period on December 31st of this year.
Remedy's acquisition announcement states that the roughly 17 million euros it spent for the rights to Control is “the amount that 505 Games previously paid for the development of codenames Condor and Control 2, plus a small premium. It is written as “equal to”. The net purchase price will be paid in three cash installments over the next 12 months.
Of course, today's announcement feels a bit like history repeating itself. In 2019, Remedy announced that it had reached an agreement with Microsoft to acquire the rights to Alan Wake for €2.5 million. The move means the cult classic, which was once an Xbox exclusive, will move to other platforms before receiving the remaster treatment. The long-awaited sequel came out last year.
As for Control 2 and Project Condor, both were announced in November 2022. However, it was confirmed last October that Control 2 is still in the “proof of concept” stage, so it could still be a long way off. Condor, like Remedy's Max Payne 1 and 2 remakes, is said to have “advanced into pre-production.”