Control may warrant consideration as somewhat of a sleeper hit. The title hit store shelves in late August, but never managed to become a chart-topping success. At the end of the day, however, this doesn’t spell doom for developer Remedy Entertainment. Interestingly, because of the title’s roughly €30 million budget, even mild success for Control is a win for Remedy.
The studio’s CEO, Tero Virtala, explained as much during a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz. Due to the team’s budget and development time on Control, Remedy remains in a “good position.” This is thanks in large part to the game’s “steady sales,” which may see an increase as time goes on. Virtala told the publication,
Control was developed in three years with a budget of less than €30 million. We don’t quite require the same huge lifetime numbers as many other games with bigger development budgets. Therefore, even though Control didn’t have chart-topping sales right from the get go, we are in a good position with steady sales. We always take the long view here.
That “long view” could especially work in Remedy’s favor, since the studio still has plans for free content and paid DLC. This kind of support, along with word-of-mouth, will likely contribute to Control’s long-term sales success. Virtala continued,
Nowadays, the majority of sales for many games are generated over a long period of time in digital stores–and Control continues to sell, which is good. We are bringing more free and paid content to the game. It has the proven high-quality and uniqueness, and the word-of-mouth that keeps growing. There is still a big audience out there that hasn’t yet heard of Control. These are all factors that support the longer-term sales.
Such success could also mean Remedy has a new brand on its hands. According to Virtala, it’s still too early to tell, but Control may be establishing a “growing fanbase” for itself, one eager to explore the supernatural world further. Should this prove true, it seems the studio may very well oblige.
Control is available now on the PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One platforms.
[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]
