Remedy Entertainment Commits to Control Resonant Late September Launch Amid GTA 6 Market Anxiety Through Strategic Pricing and Independent Publishing
A glut of big game releases is forming on the horizon in late September, due in part to anxiety about the coming late Autumn release of Grand Theft Auto 6. Developers have either pushed forward or back release dates to create an at least 2 month buffer before or after the Rockstar title’s launch. An IGN report outlines how this defensive scheduling has crowded the late September market with dozens of games to choose from.
In late September Control Resonant, developed by Remedy, is launching to go up against both Silent Hill Townfall and Onimusha Way of the Sword. Other big AAA games in this window include Marvel's Wolverine, The Blood of Dawnwalker, Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War 4, Halloween The Game, and Dune Awakening for consoles. In spite of the massive amount of rival games Remedy will compete with, it remains committed to its late September launch date.
The communications director for Remedy, Thomas Puha, stated in his interview with IGN that he would prefer to ship the game rather than to hold it off from the release market to avoid competitors. Puha emphasized that delaying a subpar product in the hopes of reaching an empty market window is something that will backfire on the gaming audience.
We locked in our release date based on what is best for the game. The most important thing, I am 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.
To maximize sales on the game, Remedy is running its biggest ever marketing campaign for the sequel, with advertisements running at recent summer shows. In addition to the game’s launch being held at a bargain $59.99, $10 below the current $70 price point for modern AAA games, the competitive market. Puha stated that in spite of the competitive October market he is optimistic that both price point and quality will ensure that this title will sell well.
This launch represents an extremely important financial point in Remedy’s business, as they will be handling independent publishing for the sequel. Following Remedy's financial losses from the multiplayer title FBC Firebreak, the new CEO, Jean Charles Gaudechon, said that sales conversion will be the top priority going forward for the studio.
To me, that's 1 of the 1st 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.
With this goal, Remedy is going into business with Annapurna Pictures to help both co finance and produce Control Resonant, hoping to gain even further financial support in cross media potential through a potential film or television adaptation from the Control and Alan Wake franchises.
