Alan Wake should have sold more. Control should have sold more.
Remedy Entertainment's new chief executive has done what few in the games industry do openly: acknowledged that two beloved franchises fell short of their potential, not from creative failure, but from the quieter failures of positioning and reach. Jean-Charles Gaudechon's admission that Control and Alan Wake 'should have sold more' is less a confession of defeat than a philosophical reorientation — a studio choosing to understand its own blind spots before pressing forward. With Control: Resonant on the horizon and cross-media expansions in development, Remedy is wagering that self-knowledge, applied deliberately, can close the distance between a game's worth and its audience.
- Two of Remedy's most distinctive franchises quietly underperformed, and the studio's new CEO is the first to say so plainly — a rare act of institutional honesty in an industry that prefers silence over scrutiny.
- The multiplayer shooter FBC: Firebreak launched in mid-2025 and failed to find its footing, adding fresh urgency to questions about how Remedy positions and sustains its games in a crowded market.
- Remedy is severing reliance on traditional publishing partners, betting that no outside voice can represent its singular creative tone as faithfully as the studio itself can.
- Alan Wake and Control films are now in active development, part of a deliberate push to plant these IPs in popular culture and draw new audiences back toward the games.
- Control: Resonant is being built in the shadow of these lessons — a sequel that will serve as the first real test of whether Remedy's new strategic instincts hold under market pressure.
Jean-Charles Gaudechon, Remedy Entertainment's new CEO, recently offered a candid assessment that is uncommon in the games industry: Control and Alan Wake, the studio's flagship franchises, did not sell as well as they should have. Rather than treat this as a verdict on the games themselves, Gaudechon framed it as evidence of untapped potential — audiences that exist but have not yet been reached. "There's a vision on thinking bigger for some of these IPs," he said, "which need to find its audience much, much further than the current audience."
Remedy's response takes two distinct forms. The studio is moving toward self-publishing, arguing that only Remedy truly understands how to represent its own creative voice in the market. Gaudechon believes that tonal consistency between a game and its promotional presence matters — something traditional publishing partnerships can dilute. Alongside this, Alan Wake and Control films are in development, part of a cross-media strategy designed to establish these franchises in broader popular culture and funnel that awareness back to the games.
The studio is also reckoning honestly with FBC: Firebreak, a multiplayer shooter that launched in June 2025 and failed to find its audience. Rather than set that experience aside, Gaudechon described it as a source of hard-won knowledge about game positioning, community management, and the mechanics of sustaining a live product. Those lessons will directly shape how Control: Resonant — the next entry in the Control series — is brought to market.
On artificial intelligence, Remedy is taking a deliberately measured path. Generative AI is permitted for early prototyping, but the studio is not treating it as a strategic pillar, a stance that sets it apart from larger competitors and reflects both philosophical caution and awareness of player skepticism. Control: Resonant will be the first major test of whether Remedy's new instincts — self-publishing, cross-media reach, and lessons learned from failure — can finally close the gap between what these franchises have achieved and what Gaudechon believes they are capable of.
Jean-Charles Gaudechon, Remedy Entertainment's new chief executive, sat down recently and did something few studio leaders do with ease: he admitted his company's games hadn't sold as well as they should have. Control and Alan Wake, two of Remedy's flagship franchises, fell short of internal expectations. The studio is moving forward anyway—greenlighting Control: Resonant as the next entry in that series—but the path forward looks different from the one that brought those earlier titles to market.
Gaudechon framed the underperformance not as failure but as opportunity. "It's a pity, I think Alan Wake should have sold more. Control should have sold more," he told The Game Business. Yet he sees untapped potential in both franchises. "As franchises, Control, Alan Wake, etcetera, could give a lot more," he explained. "There's a vision on thinking bigger for some of these IPs, which need to find its audience much, much further than the current audience." The gap between what these games achieved and what Remedy believes they could achieve has become the central strategic question.
The studio's answer involves two major shifts. First, Remedy is moving toward self-publishing, taking direct control of how its games reach the market. Gaudechon argued that no one understands Remedy's distinctive creative voice better than Remedy itself. "No-one can really talk about our games as well as us, especially as Remedy makes pretty unique and special games," he said. Self-publishing, in his view, allows the marketing and positioning to match the tone of the games themselves—a tonal consistency that traditional publishing partnerships may not preserve. This means the promotional material for Control: Resonant will likely feel different from what players saw before.
Second, Remedy is betting on cross-media expansion. An Alan Wake film and a Control film are already in development, part of a broader strategy to build these franchises beyond the games themselves. The logic is straightforward: reach audiences through multiple formats, establish the IP in popular culture, and funnel that awareness back to the games. It's a playbook that has worked for other studios, though execution matters enormously.
The studio is also applying hard lessons from a recent failure. FBC: Firebreak, a multiplayer shooter Remedy launched in June 2025, did not find its audience. Rather than bury that experience, Gaudechon treated it as a learning opportunity. "Remedy has learned a lot about the self-publishing process and about aspects like how you position a game, how you manage a community, et cetera," he said. Those lessons—about positioning, community management, the mechanics of launching and sustaining a game—will inform how Control: Resonant reaches players.
On the question of artificial intelligence, Gaudechon took a measured stance that distinguishes Remedy from some of its larger competitors. The studio is not embracing AI as a core strategy. Instead, Remedy is allowing generative AI for early development and prototyping work, treating it as one tool among many. "Remedy has always been an R&D studio," Gaudechon noted, explaining that experimentation with emerging technology is part of the studio's DNA. This contrasts sharply with the aggressive AI integration happening at studios like EA, where Gaudechon previously worked. Remedy's caution reflects both philosophical conviction and practical concern about how AI adoption might affect the studio's reputation among players who have grown skeptical of the technology.
What emerges from Gaudechon's comments is a studio at an inflection point. Control and Alan Wake are not dead franchises—they're franchises that Remedy believes have been undermarketed and underexposed. The new CEO is betting that better positioning, direct control over the publishing process, and expansion into film will unlock audiences that existing games failed to reach. Control: Resonant will be the first major test of whether those instincts are sound.
Notable Quotes
There's a vision on thinking bigger for some of these IPs, which need to find its audience much, much further than the current audience.— Jean-Charles Gaudechon, Remedy CEO
No-one can really talk about our games as well as us, especially as Remedy makes pretty unique and special games.— Jean-Charles Gaudechon, on self-publishing strategy
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
When a CEO says a game "should have sold more," what's really being said? Is that a failure of the game itself, or a failure of how it reached people?
Usually it's the latter. Control and Alan Wake are critically respected games. The admission here isn't that they're bad—it's that Remedy didn't get them in front of enough people, or in front of the right people. That's a marketing and positioning problem, not a creative one.
So why move to self-publishing? Doesn't that add enormous risk and overhead?
It does, but Remedy's argument is that traditional publishers dilute the voice. When you're making weird, atmospheric games with a specific tone, you need marketing that matches that tone. A big publisher's marketing machine might sand down the edges to appeal to a broader audience. Remedy wants to keep the edges sharp.
The films—Alan Wake and Control movies—how does that actually help sell games?
It's about cultural penetration. Right now, these franchises exist mostly in gaming circles. A film brings them to people who've never heard of the games. Some of those people will be curious enough to try the source material. It's a long game, but it works if the films are good.
FBC: Firebreak failed. What does that teach them about Control: Resonant?
Mainly that you can't just launch a multiplayer game and hope. You need a clear positioning, a community strategy from day one, ongoing management. Firebreak probably launched without those pieces in place. Control: Resonant will be different—more intentional, more supported.
And the AI caution—is that principle or pragmatism?
Both. Remedy's players are the kind who notice and care about how games are made. Using AI for early prototyping is fine; using it to replace artists or writers would damage trust. Gaudechon's previous employer, EA, has pushed AI hard. Remedy is watching that play out and choosing a different path.