A financial report from Remedy Games released this morning has confirmed that the Max Payne remake – a modern combination of Max Payne 1 and 2 – is in “full production”. This report reveals that the game entered this state within the quarter spanning April – June 2024.
In addition, Control 2 has entered its production readiness stage, pointing towards that game’s gradual development towards its release. CEO Tero Virtala noted as well that “development fees increased from the comparison period due to higher development fees from Max Payne 1&2 remake”. What this essentially means is that its full steam ahead on the remake’s development, and those loses stem from the money faucet being turned and cash flowing towards its creation.
As for the wider financials for the company, things are looking better than last year, with revenue increasing 16%. Operating loss is still 3.2 million euros, which sounds a bit nasty, but that’s a 1.6 million euro improvement from last year too. So for Remedy, things appear to be moving in a positive direction.
There were also notes given towards projects in active development, though this section of the report starts with a short sentence on the cancellation of multiplayer title Project Kestrel. The report notes that this game’s cancellation has allowed resources to be focused on “other game projects”, which would include the aforementioned Max Payne remake and Control 2.
The Max Payne remake is apparently heading towards its next major milestone, that being a playable and working product from beginning to end. On the other hand, Control 2 being in a much earlier state of development has just passed a humbler milestone. This being a working build with key features present and doing their thing, and important step before the game can reach a similar stage as the Max Payne remake.
One bit of important context for this report is that it comes following Remedy gaining control of key IP. The report notes the following: “With full control of the IP and publishing rights of Control and Alan Wake, we can choose how to bring our future games to the market. We have been weighing self-publishing and related business models, as well as discussing different partner publishing opportunities”. It also notes that a large focus is being places on expanding their owned IP – which include Max Payne, Alan wake, and Control – in the future.
As a final note, Remedy expects revenue increases year-over-year to improve heading into the future, with the report pointing out that the current increase in revenue growth is dependant on the decision between “self-publishing and/or choosing a new publishing partner for the games in the Control franchise (codename Condor and Control 2).”
This should all spell good news for fans of Remedy, as it not only points to serious movement internally on the development side of things, but also greener pastures in the future (as long as future games like the Max Payne remake, Control 2, and Codename Condor do well). In this time of financial instability, especially within larger publishers, an independently owned studio being in this position can only be a good thing.
Are you excited for this Max Payne remake? Do you think Remedy is on the up-and-up? Let us know below!
