Remedy Entertainment has entered into an agreement with publisher 505 Games to acquire the rights to the Control IP. The Finnish studio will now also have full control of the upcoming sequel and spin-offs.
In a blog post on February 28, Remedy noted that the maximum purchase price for the Control deal is about €17 million. The payment will be made in three cash transactions during the next 12 months.
€17 million is the exact amount 505 Games has paid the studio for the development of Control 2 and Project Condor to date, including a minor premium.
As a result, all publishing agreements for the existing and future games in the franchise will be terminated. The studio will also get back publishing, distribution, marketing, and other rights to Control 2 and Condor.
505 Games will remain the publisher of the original game until December 31, 2024, also managing existing B2B deals for the IP. But after that, the company won’t be entitled to any royalties from Control.
Remedy CEO Tero Virtala noted that the deal is part of the studio’s “long-term strategy to have more ownership over our business and the IPs.” He added that Condor and Control 2 “have both progressed well in recent months and we expect these projects to reach their next development stages during the first half of 2024.”
In its business strategy update last year, the Finnish developer revealed that Control 2 will have a €50 million budget. Condor, a live service co-op spin-off game, will have a budget of €25 million. But thanks to the rights buyback, Remedy won’t have to share future revenues with 505 Games.
This also allows the studio to focus on its long-term growth and weigh up between self-publishing and new publishing deals. “We are in a better negotiating position than before as Control is an established brand and Alan Wake 2 has been successful,” Remedy said in a statement.
The original Control game has sold over 4 million copies globally since its launch in August 2019. It also generated more than €100 million in net revenue for both Remedy and 505 Games (the Finnish studio is entitled to a 45% share).