September is one of the most packed months for video game releases in recent memory — and everyone knows why. The delayed GTA 6 is coming out in November, and pretty much the entire rest of the video game industry is running scared. Publishers and developers are either making sure to get their games out at least two months ahead of GTA 6 or well after the launch, more in hope than expectation that the wider gaming public will have decided it’s time to think about other video games again.
Control Resonant, the sequel to 2019’s Control, is just one of a number of big games that have gone with September. It’s a growing list that includes Marvel’s Wolverine, The Blood of Dawnwalker, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4, Halloween: The Game, and the console version of Dune: Awakening. Perhaps more troublesome for Control Resonant is the fact it launches on September 24, the same day as Silent Hill townfall, and a day before Onimusha: Way of the Sword. That’s a lot to contend with.
So, is Remedy concerned that Control Resonant may struggle to stand out in September? Would it be better to bring the release forward, even by a few weeks? Not an option, Remedy told IGN.
“We locked in our release date based on what’s best for the game,” Remedy communications director Thomas Puha said. “The most important thing, I’m sure you agree, is that we ship Control Resonant at the best possible quality because that is the right thing to do, rather than shipping something that isn’t fully polished. If your game isn’t great at launch, the gaming audience won’t like it, and it’s hard to recover from that.”
So, September 24 it is. So what can Remedy do to give it the best chance of success? Puha told IGN that Remedy is supporting Control Resonant with the company’s biggest ever marketing campaign (it appeared in this week’s Summer Game Fest showcase with a new trailer, and its release date was announced at Sony’s State of Play a few days earlier).
Puha also pointed out that Control Resonant is priced $59.99, $10 below the typical $70 triple-A price point, which may help encourage purchases. And Remedy has more to reveal on the game in the coming months, Puha added.
“The release window is challenging, there is no denying that,” Puha admitted, “but there is always going to be competition, but ultimately, we have to trust the quality of our game. We are giving Control Resonant, by far Remedy’s biggest marketing campaign, to support the game. It is very competitively priced, and much more is coming in the days ahead now that we have announced our release date.”
Control Resonant is a crucial release for Remedy, which is self-publishing the game. The studio’s recent games have struggled for breakout success, and its multiplayer game FBC: Firebreak flopped. Last month, Remedy’s new CEO, Jean-Charles Gaudechon, admitted that the Alan Wake and Control games “should have sold more,” a problem he was brought in to solve.
“To me, that’s one of the first things we need to fix, even before trying to make more games to a certain extent. First of all, maximize the potential of the ones we have, because they’re incredible. And cross-media is going to help us do that.”
The mention of cross-media is a reference to Annapurna Pictures co-financing and co-producing Control Resonant as part of a strategic partnership with Remedy that may result in Control and Alan Wake TV shows and movies.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
