A few days ago, Remedy Entertainment published their financial report for 2020. Inside the fourteen-page document, the studio covers internal developments and their achievements, as well as their goals for the next five years. Today we're going to take a look at some of those key reveals.
2020 was a big year for the studio, in addition to it being the developer's twenty-fifth anniversary, it was also a year of big asks to ensure everyone's safety. Ahead of the local lockdowns in Finland, Remedy had moved to working remotely. While initially many of us thought that those procedures last March would only be a matter of months, over one year onwards, it's only now that we are finally looking towards the prospect of normalcy. With their latest financial report, the Board looks back on how the studio has adapted to changes within the workspace and the future of the company.
Revenue & Operating Profit. Revenue increased 30% to €41.1 million and operating profit increased 103% to €13.2 million. In his letter, Tero Virtala (CEO) comments that the growth is impressive especially considering the absence of a new major release.
2021 - 2025 Company Goals
Back in early December, Remedy publically announced their new studio goals for the years ahead. While the previous few years have been dedicated to strengthening its position as a multi-project developer, the Board has established the key stepping stones that would define success internally going ahead. These goals include:
- Successful launch of well-received games, with the goal of one major hit.
- The growth of Remedy-owned IPs with long-term potential (e.g. spin-offs, sequels, or expansions)
- Strengthening the studio's position to select the ideal distribution for each project (e.g. self-financing, self-publishing, and working with partners).
- Strengthening Remedy's status and value within Europe.
- Maintaining a profitable and growing studio
You can read the list in full from the Capital Markets Day, HERE.
Achievements From 2020
Control Expands On To New Platforms. Follow's Control's one-year timed-exclusivity on the Epic Games Store, the game came to Steam on August 27th 2020. The new bundle, Control Ultimate Edition included both DLC packs and was launched with a developer AMA. In October, Amazon Luna launched with Control as one of the first titles playable on the platform. The game also featured heavily in Amazon's marketing. Control later came to Nintendo Switch on November 5th, playable via the Cloud.
Control Sales. In December 2020, it was revealed that Remedy had sold over two million copies of Control. November 2020 was hugely successful for Remedy as it marked Control's highest sale for digital editions.
Control's The Foundation DLC. While working from home, work concluded on Control's first DLC pack, The Foundation. As the first paid-DLC pack for the game, IGN got exclusive early coverage of the game, alongside interviews with select developers and cast members. As part of a timed-exclusive release, The Foundation launched on PlayStation 4 and the Epic Games Store on March 26th, with the Xbox One version launching on June 25th.
Control's AWE DLC. Control's second and final DLC pack, AWE, was developed entirely remotely and under lockdown. The expansion returned to the world of Alan Wake and teased the return of the writer. The first glimpse was given on August 6th as part of PlayStation's State of Play, with the introduction shown a week later during a developer live stream. The AWE expansion pack launched on all platforms on August 27th.
Additional Updates. In addition to two expansion packs, Control also received a number of updates post-release, as well as the highly-anticipated Assist Mode which allowed players to tailor combat difficulty.
Internal Developments In 2020
Current Projects. Remedy is currently working on four titles; Vanguard, one unannounced project, and the two unannounced Epic Games projects.
Epic Games. On March 26th 2020, Remedy signed two publishing deals with Epic Games; one for a AAA game, the other for a smaller-scale adventure. The titles are described as "new multi-platform games based on IP created and owned by Remedy." With the signed deal, the developers will retain ownership of the brand and receive 50% game sales net revenue (for context Control saw 45% game sales net revenue in digital sales), alongside assistance with development costs. The smaller-scale game is already in production, and the AAA game will be entering full production in spring 2021.
Control Team Moving. Following the success of their recent game, Tero Virtala revealed that the team has since moved onto new projects, stating "while we continue to support and take Control further, its development team is gradually shifting to work on a new Remedy game."
Crossfire Development Continues. Smilegate's collaboration with CrossfireX is almost complete with only some development remaining on the Xbox Series X|S versions.
Launch of Crossfire HD & CrossfireX. Speaking about the two Crossfire games that Remedy has worked with Smilegate on, Virtala announced "Crossfire HD on PC is expected to be released in China by Smilegate and Tencent, and CrossfireX on Xbox in the western markets by Smilegate and Microsoft. Both games feature Remedy’s single-player campaigns and provide a royalty opportunity for us based on the existing agreements. Our partnership with Smilegate is strong and our development collaboration continues."
Vanguard. The Vanguard team is working on a service-based multiplayer game combining "selected world-building and narrative strengths of Remedy". It has been revealed that they are creating a free-to-play co-op game, something which the studio has never done before. The team is currently working on the first playable version, but development is described as still being in "its early stages" by the studio's CEO. The publishing model for Vanguard is yet undecided.
State of the Studio
Studio size. By the end of 2020, they had reached 275 employees, with a steady 20-30 new positions at any one time. 52% of the employees at the studio are international developers representing twenty-nine nationalities. Throughout 2020, the studio has been working on five main games, overall this has led to fifteen projects over 10 different platforms. They have also been working with 31 external development partners bringing in 370 additional names.
Shares. The company does not own its own shares.
Royalties & Development Fees. The company's revenue throughout 2020 is a result of a number of sources includes royalties from Control and previously released games. It also included development fees received from Epic Games, 505 Games (Control's publishers) and Smilegate (Crossfire's publishers).
Executive Team. For 2020, Remedy's Executive Team included Tero Virtala (CEO), Terhi Kauppi (CFO), Markus
Mäki (CTO), Sami Järvi/Sam Lake (Creative Director), Mikaela Öberg-Mattila (HR Director), Johannes Paloheimo (Chief Commercial Officer) and Christopher Schmitz (Chief Operating Officer)
Board. For 2020, the Board of Directors included Markus Mäki (Chair), Christian Fredrikson, Jussi
Laakkonen, Ossi Pohjola and Henri Österlund.
Shares. On February 25th 2021, Remedy issued 1,000,000 new shares, bringing up the total to 13,072,150. (Press Release)
Predictions For 2021
Revenue & Operating Profits. Remedy is predicting that its revenue and operating profit is set to increase during 2021, particularly for the second half of the year.
Control. 2021 has already seen a number of releases including the launch of Control on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, Control joining PlayStation Plus, and the release of The Art & Making Of Control book. All three will likely have an impact on money coming in to the studio.
Covid-19. While the company has moved temporarily to remote working, the company is currently working on schedule. The only delay has been to CrossfireX, which will include Remedy's single-player story-mode campaign, however, the delay was due to Smilegate's decision.
