If you've ever thought to yourself that what the hit third-person shooter Control really needs is a co-op multiplayer mode, you'll be very excited to hear that one is on the way. Remedy announced today that it's signed a deal with publisher 505 Games to develop a new four-player PvE spinoff of Control, codenamed Condor.
"We have successfully collaborated with 505 Games for over four years and have both become stronger in our respective fields. We are happy to extend and deepen our partnership," Remedy CEO Tero Virtala said.
"This new agreement supports Remedy’s aims to expand our games into long-term franchises, create benchmark-setting games, strengthen our commercial capabilities and collaborate with great partners with whom we can succeed together."
From Max Payne through Control, Remedy has historically been a singleplayer-focused game studio—in 2019, it was even contracted to develop the singleplayer campaign for the online shooter CrossFire X. Control game director Mikael Kasurinen acknowledged that there might be "skepticism" about its ability to make a multiplayer game, but said that co-op games "that you can access collectively, with your friends … can shine as brightly as any single-player experience does."
"I believe we can create shared experiences without compromising the unique DNA of who we are, or the stories we want to tell," he wrote. "Yes, we need to re-think our angles, our techniques, our mindset, but we see it as an exciting challenge: What would a Remedy multiplayer game look like?"
"We are approaching this with a mix of excitement and respect. We want to create something that is engaging, yet familiar, something any of our fans can jump into and feel at home in. Together."
Remedy and 505 have also agreed to "high-level collaboration terms to further expand the Control franchise with a bigger-budget Control-game," which to my reading can only mean that a full-scale sequel is also in the works. Kasurinen declined to say any more about it, except to note that he's "extremely excited for the future of the Control franchise," and that we won't get a look at what's cooking for a good while yet.
"It is going to be a long time before we show off these projects," he wrote. "I’m going back to the lab for a while, but don’t worry, there are other Remedy experiences coming from our studio that I know you will love."
Kasurinen also shared what is presumably Condor concept art of four Control operators waiting patiently for their turns with the clerk after what appears to be a very rough day at the office. I'm not sure that Remedy needs a multiplayer spinoff, but the energy of this image has me very eager to try it.
