September is shaping up to be one of the most crowded months for video game releases in recent memory, and everyone knows why. The delayed GTA 6 is launching in November, causing much of the gaming industry to scramble. Publishers and developers are either rushing to release their games at least two months before GTA 6 or waiting until well after its launch, hoping the gaming public will eventually move on to other titles.
Control Resonant, the sequel to 2019's Control, is among several big games slated for September. The growing list includes Marvel’s Wolverine, The Blood of Dawnwalker, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4, Halloween: The Game, and the console version of Dune: Awakening. More concerning for Control Resonant is its launch on September 24, the same day as Silent Hill Townfall and just a day before Onimusha: Way of the Sword. That's stiff competition.
So, is Remedy worried that Control Resonant might get lost in the September shuffle? Would moving the release up even by a few weeks help? Not an option, Remedy told IGN.
"We locked in our release date based on what’s best for the game," said Remedy communications director Thomas Puha. "The most important thing, I’m 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."
So September 24 it is. What can Remedy do to maximize its chances of success? Puha told IGN that Remedy is backing Control Resonant with the company's biggest marketing campaign ever. The game appeared at this week's Summer Game Fest with a new trailer, and its release date was announced at Sony's State of Play a few days earlier.
Puha also noted that Control Resonant is priced at $59.99, $10 below the typical $70 triple-A price point, which may help drive sales. And Remedy has more to reveal in the coming months, Puha added.
"The release window is challenging, there is no denying that," Puha admitted. "But there is always going to be competition. Ultimately, we have to trust the quality of our game. We are giving Control Resonant by far Remedy’s biggest marketing campaign to support the game. It is very competitively priced, and much more is coming in the days ahead now that we have announced our release date."
Control Resonant is a crucial release for Remedy, which is self-publishing the game. The studio's recent titles have struggled to achieve breakout success, and its multiplayer game FBC: Firebreak flopped. Last month, Remedy's new CEO Jean-Charles Gaudechon admitted that the Alan Wake and Control games "should have sold more," a problem he was brought in to solve.
"To me, that's one of the first 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."
The mention of cross-media refers to Annapurna Pictures co-financing and co-producing Control Resonant as part of a strategic partnership with Remedy that may lead to Control and Alan Wake TV shows and movies.
