It’s not all that rare for major video game companies to set new financial records. The past year in particular, which saw massive increases in game sales across the board due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to multiple publishers earning record profits in 2020. This includes developer Remedy Entertainment, which is especially impressive given that it hasn’t released a new title in almost two years.
The Finnish studio has earned quite a reputation for itself throughout its 26-year history, having produced such noted games as the original Max Payne games, Alan Wake, and Quantum Break, as well as its critical 2019 hit Control. However, since Remedy hasn’t released a new game since then, one could be forgiven for assuming that the lack of hype for any major release would lead to some decline financially.
One would be wrong in this case, because during an earnings call this week, Remedy announced that it had its best year ever last year in terms of money made. 2020 saw the company make €41.1 million ($49.8 million), a 29.8% increase from the year prior, in addition to boasting an operating profit of €13.2 million ($15.9 million).
There are a few key factors behind this success, with Remedy specifically mentioning the development money it received as part of its collaboration with Epic Games, in addition to royalty income earned from Control. It also helped that 2020 proved to be a busy year for Control, as it saw the release of two new expansions, an Ultimate Edition re-release, a cloud-based Nintendo Switch port, and appearances on streaming services like Xbox Game Pass and Amazon Luna.
The stars seem to have aligned for Remedy to rake in big money without any major new release in 2020, which it almost had until the delay of CrossfireX, the tactical first-person shooter it’s developing with Smilegate Entertainment. More than that, though, CEO Tero Virtala said in the earnings call that its record year is a testament to the efforts the company has made to diversify its business and build “a strong foundation for long-term growth.”
As such, the company is expecting to experience even more growth in 2021. Already, Control is continuing to sell well this year, helped by its release on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X earlier this month. Outside of Control, Remedy is planning to finally release CrossfireX in 2021 following a COVID-19-induced delay. Beyond that, there’s also the two projects the studio is developing for Epic Games, one of which might be the mystery game Remedy’s Sam Lake teased back in December.
Source: Remedy Entertainment
