'One of the Very Few Games I'm Going to Be Buying': Control Resonant Leaks, But Some Pirates Are Choosing to Pay for It Anyway

In a surprising twist, video game pirates are making a rare push to actually purchase Control Resonant, aiming to support its developer, Remedy.

Control Resonant launched today for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, and, as expected, cracked copies have already surfaced online. However, amid threads sharing illegal downloads, there's a noticeable movement among some fans to back the game's development team.

Remedy is renowned for creating Max Payne, Alan Wake, Control, and Quantum Break, but its titles often attract niche audiences. Fans adore the studio's quirky storytelling, dark humor, and consistently high quality. Yet recent releases have struggled commercially—Alan Wake 2 took over a year to become profitable, and new content for the multiplayer experiment FBC: Firebreak wrapped up in under a year.

Given fan worries about Remedy's future and a growing consensus that the studio needs Control Resonant to succeed, numerous messages on piracy forums and Reddit now show pirates pledging to make an exception and buy the game.

"One of the very few games I'm going to be buying, Remedy are on the brink of bankruptcy, this is their make or break title, I love their games and gotta do what I can to keep them afloat," one fan wrote.

"I wasn't planning to buy it but now I feel like I should," a reply reads. "I like Remedy. They do good games."

"Yeah same here," another response says. "Remedy makes amazing games, that's a studio that deserve my money, and I hope they continue to make more games."

"I feel like this is one of the games which you shouldn't pirate if you can," a similar comment on a different thread notes. "Remedy makes unique, innovative games, they need this funding."

Not everyone is on board, though. "That's great idea, but this is a piracy reddit," one response reads. "Agreed, I gotta eat so this is being pirated but they do deserve success," another adds.

Still, the prevailing sentiment is that Control Resonant is a standout case. "I mean if you're going to compensate the team outside of Steam for playing their game that's one thing, but pretending that because you need to eat gives you the right to steal a video game is ridiculous."

If you're still unsure whether the game is for you, IGN's Control Resonant review can help. "Even when combat's sharp edge eventually dulls, Control Resonant is a great addition to the Remedyverse," we wrote, giving it an 8/10. "While its story follows a more standard framework, its gravitational pull is in the inventive world built around it and the humanization that grounds the paranatural intrigue."

In August, Jean-Charles Gaudechon, who became CEO of Remedy in March, said Control Resonant had 1.5 million wishlists across PC and consoles and was among the top three pre-ordered PlayStation games in the U.S., Germany, and Brazil.

"We position Control Resonant as a must-have day-one purchase while also building Control into a lasting franchise," Gaudechon said at the time. "In a competitive autumn window, we believe the distinctiveness and quality of the game will make it stand out. Control Resonant will be available across all major platforms from day one and is priced attractively for an AAA title. Combined with the release window becoming slightly less crowded since our original reveal, we remain confident in our positioning."

Beyond Control Resonant, Remedy is still working on the Max Payne 1 & 2 remakes, which remain in production. The company also has an unannounced "new project" that it says has reached "production readiness," without giving more details. Could this be early work on Alan Wake 3, another Control game, or something entirely new? Only time will tell, but Remedy doesn't seem ready to abandon Alan just yet.

"We have two established own franchises, Control and Alan Wake, which are linked through the Remedy Connected Universe," Gaudechon concluded, looking ahead. "Remedy will self-publish upcoming games, in which Remedy owns the IP. Growing and expanding the two franchises will be a key part of our future. In addition, we work with a partner franchise Max Payne, originally created by Remedy."