It's been a busy month so far, but things are not slowing down. Last week, Remedy published their Business Review for Q1 2022, focusing on company developments spanning from January to March. In the new report, the studio talk about the progress made on Alan Wake 2, and on their currently-codenamed titles; Heron, Condor, and Vanguard.
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 with senior staff which you can watch below:
Achievements
CrossfireX was released on February 10th 2022 on Xbox One and Series S|X. The game was published by Smilegate in collaboration with Microsoft.
Progress was made on the studio's subsidiary in Sweden as Remedy formalized its place in the country. The company there has been focusing on the Vanguard project.
[After Q1 2022] Remedy announced a new partnership with Rockstar which would see the original Max Payne developers work on a remaster of Max Payne 1&2. In his statement, Tero Virtala (CEO at Remedy) described that the "public reception to this announcement was overwhelmingly positive. Max Payne clearly has a special place in the hearts of not only Remedians but gamers across the globe. We are very excited to bring the remade game for old and new fans alike."
[After Q1 2022] On May 4th, the studio moved its listing from Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland to Nasdaq Helsinki. On the topic, Virtala expanded on the move, stating that "in our view, a listing on the official list will increase Remedy’s brand awareness, improve the liquidity of shares, and help us to broaden our shareholder base."
Internal Developments
Revenue grew year-on-year due to development fees.
No royalty revenue from Alan Wake Remastered during Q1 2022, as Epic Games Publishing is still recouping development and marketing expenses for the game.
Game royalties consisted mainly of Control sales, although there was an expected decline.
State of the Studio
A dedicated team at the studio have continued to support both Crossfire HD and CrossfireX.
Alan Wake 2 is in the full production stage, with sections of the game taking a more complete form. The game is still set to be launched in 2023.
Vanguard (codename) is currently in the proof-of-concept stage and will be co-published with Tencent. The project is currently being worked on across both Finnish and Swedish studios and is planned to be a free-to-play co-op experience.
Condor (codename) is currently in the proof-of-concept stage. The game is the smaller of two Control games being developed at the moment, Condor will be a spin-off title.
Heron (codename) is in the concept stage with the team focusing on prototyping. It is the second of the two Control games currently in development.
The number of personnel at the studio at the end of Q1 was 301.
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.
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".
On the future of the studio, Virtala stated, "Overall, the year 2022 has started off well for us. We are all focused now on executing the projects in the current games pipeline. As we have stated in our long-term business prospects, we expect to have major game launches between 2023 and 2025 that will broaden the revenue streams over the coming years. Recruitment proceeds well and brings us great new talent. Ensuring that teams have the resources and support needed to reach their full potential is of utmost importance to us. Together with our great partners, we are committed to delivering on a pipeline of promising games lined up for years to come."
