In a new press release, Remedy Entertainment officially reveals that the previous Codename Heron project is a full-blown sequel to Control. The studio as a whole has a lot on its plate after announcing a slew of projects at the 505 Showcase back in May and the reveal of Alan Wake 2 at The Game Awards in 2021. Following the great reception to Control, many fans were wondering which direction the studio would go in as it has a number of franchises that fans were hoping to see get another entry.
With so many projects in varying stages of development, Remedy hasn't gone into specifics about each one, only assigning a codename to them for now. In addition to Alan Wake 2, Remedy's other revealed games include Max Payne Remasters with Rockstar, a live service title Codename Vanguard being co-published with Tencent, and Codename Condor which is a proof-of-concept multiplayer spinoff of Control. The final project named Codename Heron is where most speculation remained as Remedy teased it as a bigger Control-related game.
Thanks to a new press release, the studio essentially confirmed what many fans were expecting to hear about Codename Heron and Remedy's confirmed connected universe. Essentially, this is a direct sequel to Control 2 and Remedy announced a co-development and co-publishing agreement with 505 Games. The deal has a budget of 50 million Euros with full 50/50 split on revenue, with Remedy retaining the rights to the IP. Remedy will also handle publishing duties for the PC, while 505 takes care of console publishing.
While the deal announcement and confirmation of a Control sequel is no doubt exciting, Remedy wanted to set expectations and made sure to let fans know that the game is still a while away from release. Control franchise game director Mikael Kasurinen admitted that, "It’ll take a while, but to put it mildly, this is the most exciting project I’ve ever worked on. It’s still early days, but it will be worth the wait."
Co-CEOs of 505 Games also put out their own statement regarding the deal, expressing excitement over what's to come. "Control is the biggest investment 505 Games has ever made, so it has a special place in our hearts. We are grateful to the whole player community that has made Control such a long-lasting and loved game, and are even more excited to bring out Control 2."
The long wait shouldn't be too surprising for fans as Alan Wake 2 is clearly the furthest along in terms of development. Last month, Remedy confirmed that Alan Wake 2 is deep in the full production phase, even though there's still a lot of work remaining. The Max Payne collaboration is also still in production, though both Control projects are much further off with both being in the concept stage. However, with the added development support from 505, it's possible Control 2's development cycle will now accelerate.
Control 2 is in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Remedy
