On November 12th, Remedy Entertainment published their Q3 2021 Business Review, covering their activities from January to September 2021. In this latest report, the studio discusses the continuing impact of Control, the publishing deal for the newly-revealed Condor, and the setup of their second studio in Stockholm, Sweden.
While the developers acknowledge the announcement and launch of Alan Wake Remastered, the game was released a week after the third quarter. Therefore reception to and sales for the game will likely be addressed in their complete 2021 report.
As always, we've taken some notes based on what has been discussed, but if you want to see the original documentation, you can check out the report on the Investor website. Alongside the review, the studio also held a webcast which you can watch below:
- Alan Wake Remastered was announced on September 7th for PC (Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4/Pro, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One. The game was published by Epic Games and released a month later on October 5th.
- Remedy's second project with Epic Games began its full production phase in August.
- Both Crossfire projects are currently being polished to prepare them for launch.
- Remedy has been working with 505Games to develop two new Control titles. Condor has previously been teased, with a "bigger new Control game" also underway.
- The studio has started to receive development fees for Condor.
- Condor has an initial development budget of €25 million. Development and marketing investments are shared 50/50, along with net revenues.
- Condor currently remains in the "proof-of-concept" stage, whereas the bigger budget Control title is in its "concept" stage.
- Remedy will co-publish Condor with 505Games.
- Revenue decreased year-on-year due to a reduction of Control royalties and development fees from Smilegate as Crossfire projects begin to wrap up.
- Smilegate has yet to confirm a publishing date for CrossfireX.
- After the launch of Alan Wake Remastered, Remedy is continuing their work with Epic Games on a "bigger unannounced project".
- Remedy used external studios to help bring Alan Wake Remastered to life. Sales for the game has "started well".
- Development work on the free-to-play multiplayer game, Vanguard, continues as Remedy launches its new subsidiary studio in Stockholm, Sweden.
- Thirty five developers have been working on Vanguard, with the studio also actively negotiating different partnership models.
- As of September 30th 2021, Remedy has 294 employees. (For comparison, Supercell has 340.)
- With Crossfire projects wrapping up, there has been reduced activity on the titles by Remedy as they were hired in a subcontractor role for the single-player campaign. As a result, there's been a reduction in development costs and financial support from Smilegate.
- Developers have been moving to new projects as work on the Crossfire projects wrap up. These developers have moved to support Remedy's long term plans.
- Remedy's secondary studio in Stockholm will officially be formed and will continue to expand in the region.
Recap / 2021-2025 Studio Goals
While many industries financially struggled throughout the pandemic, the gaming industry was one of the few that accidentally thrived, with more people seeking escapism in digital worlds. Throughout the year, Remedy worked on five main games, in fifteen separate projects, across ten platforms.
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:
- To create several successful games, with the goal of at least one major hit.
- To own at least three expanding game brands with "long-term hit potential". (The number seems to be a newly public addition compared to previous reports.)
- 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. (In Q3 2021, Remedy announced the launch of a new Sweden subsidiary.)
- Maintaining a profitable and growing studio with "well-managed risks".
