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Remedy Entertainment CEO Tero Virtala steps down

Thick Thighs Save Lives

Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
News came through a press release on their investors page:

Tero Virtala, CEO of Remedy Entertainment Plc, and the Board of Directors of the company have mutually agreed that Tero Virtala will step down from his position as the company's CEO with immediate effect. Virtala has acted in the position since August 2016. The company will initiate a search process for a new CEO immediately. Virtala will continue at the service of the company during an agreed transition period to support the handover of CEO duties.

Remedy's Board of Directors has appointed Markus Mäki as the company's interim CEO, effective as of October 22, 2025. Mäki is one of the founders of the company. He has been a member of the Board since 1995 and acted as the Chairman of the Board until his appointment. In addition, he is a member of the company's core management team responsible for production. Following his appointment, Mäki will step down from his role as the Chairman of the Board and continue as an ordinary member of the Board. The Board has elected Henri Österlund, who has been member of Remedy's Board since 2017, as the new Chairman of the Board.
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"I want to thank Tero Virtala for his substantial contribution to the management of Remedy since 2016. I personally thank Tero for good cooperation and wish him all the best for the future," says Remedy's interim CEO Markus Mäki.
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Golden handcuffs expired .

OR it was way cheaper to buy out his early term clause instead of dealing with his "personality"…dude is too busy yachting with his boy G!
 
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Is he the one that greenlit firebreak? a clearly obviously terrible decision for a company with slim margins and could quite realistically have wiped out all the limited profits from their last 2 games? If so it would be a prudent decision,
 
This is the reason why developers should stay out of the hands of big companies. They promise you so much only to control you .....
 
Alan Wake 2 took over a year to break even and FBC is a disaster. They've not been doing well commercially so it's no surprise. Remedy need Control 2 to sell well or they're in trouble.
 
Just make good non woke game and it will sell properly, remedy, is it really worth it to keep virtue signaling if it means lay offs and studio clousure? Just use common sense, guys, plz.
 
PeteBull said:
Just make good non woke game and it will sell properly, remedy, is it really worth it to keep virtue signaling if it means lay offs and studio clousure? Just use common sense, guys, plz.
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I'm sure Control and Alan Wake 2 did as well as they could have. You can't expect Alan Wake 2 to be a huge success. This is mostly because of FBC: Firebreak.
 
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Someone has to pay for the Firebreak mega bomba.
Seriously gaas titles shouldn't even be greenlit if you can't financially sustain the possibility of a complete failure.
The Max Payne remake might save them.
 
Mownoc said:
Alan Wake 2 took over a year to break even
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Maybe if they didn't make it Epic Store exclusive it would have been a bit better for them? It's not like there is no other PC platform that has 90% of the market....

Wait What Wtf GIF
 
ozz ex machina said:
Show me a AAA game that comes cloes to it in recent years for narrative and atmosphere? It was actually interesting and had a great tone.
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Just look at the sales numbers. It barely made a profit. And it took almost 2 years to do it.
And yes, there are much better games out there, both AAA or indies.
 
ozz ex machina said:
Alan Wake 2 is one of the most refreshing games I've played in years. Also technically very impressive too. On what planet is that game "mediocre".
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There is a black woman lead in it. Do the math.

I agree that it was good. I probably should go back and play the DLC as I did buy it. My only actual purchase on the Epic Store.
 
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winjer said:
Just look at the sales numbers. It barely made a profit. And it took almost 2 years to do it.
And yes, there are much better games out there, both AAA or indies.
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Why would I give a shit about sales numbers? We are discussing the quality of the game here. Most people consume utter slop. Do you think the best films and books are the ones that sell the most? Most people have horrible taste.

Also - I'd love to know of some AAA games of recent years with more compelling atmosphere and narrative. Care to recommend some? Or are you just going to say there are "much better" games out there.

KungFucius said:
There is a black woman lead in it. Do the math.

I agree that it was good. I probably should go back and play the DLC as I did buy it. My only actual purchase on the Epic Store.
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I try to avoid this narrative. But a lot of the time when I defend Alan Wake 2 it does seem the people on the other side have some kind of issue with this. She was a good well rounded protagonist imo. Not one of these cringe forced characters anti-woke people love to hate. So I had no issue with her at all.
 
ozz ex machina said:
Why would I give a shit about sales numbers? We are discussing the quality of the game here. Most people consume utter slop. Do you think the best films and books are the ones that sell the most? Most people have horrible taste.

Also - I'd love to know of some AAA games of recent years with more compelling atmosphere and narrative. Care to recommend some? Or are you just going to say there are "much better" games out there.
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You enjoyed the game, that is good for you. But don't try to pretend its a master piece and that no one else understands it.
 
winjer said:
You enjoyed the game, that is good for you. But don't try to pretend its a master piece and that no one else understands it.
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No pretending required, both the critical and user reception to the game has been extremely positive. Those that don't like the game are in the very small minority.
 
winjer said:
You enjoyed the game, that is good for you. But don't try to pretend its a master piece and that no one else understands it.
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So you are continuing to not suggest any of these "much better" games. Come on. I dislike most AAA games and Alan Wake 2 was a breath of fresh air to me. I really would like to play these much better games?

I didn't say you didn't understand it - now you are just projecting your insecurities. I'm just saying sales figures rarely correlate with quality of a product. Especially if it's a narrative that is doing something different or "weird". I'm guessing you are quite culturally naive, but this is commonplace across most art forms.

I ask once more. What games have better narratives or atmosphere than Alan Wake 2 in the last few years in the AAA space?
 
Zathalus said:
No pretending required, both the critical and user reception to the game has been extremely positive. Those that don't like the game are in the very small minority.
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It has it's fans. But it didn't set the world on fire.
It took almost 2 years to break even, because most players didn't care about it.
I'm not saying it's a bad game, just that it's unremarkable. And the sales numbers reflect that.
 
Cyberpunkd said:
Maybe if they didn't make it Epic Store exclusive it would have been a bit better for them? It's not like there is no other PC platform that has 90% of the market....

Wait What Wtf GIF
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It definitely would have sold a lot more on steam. Though we also don't know how much Epic paid them for exclusivity. Clearly PS5+XBS+Epic+Exclusivity Money wasn't enough.
 
winjer said:
It has it's fans. But it didn't set the world on fire.
It took almost 2 years to break even, because most players didn't care about it.
I'm not saying it's a bad game, just that it's unremarkable. And the sales numbers reflect that.
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It didn't sell because its Alan Wake 2. It being a sequel to a game most hadn't played was an issue. Maybe they should have called it something else.
 
ozz ex machina said:
So you are continuing to not suggest any of these "much better" games. Come on. I dislike most AAA games and Alan Wake 2 was a breath of fresh air to me. I really would like to play these much better games?

I didn't say you didn't understand it - now you are just projecting your insecurities. I'm just saying sales figures rarely correlate with quality of a product. Especially if it's a narrative that is doing something different or "weird". I'm guessing you are quite culturally naive, but this is commonplace across most art forms.

I ask once more. What games have better narratives or atmosphere than Alan Wake 2 in the last few years in the AAA space?
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Cyberpunk 2077, Baldru's gate 3, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Expedition 33, God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, Metaphor: ReFantazio, etc....
 
Love all their games but I couldn't care less about firebreak.

Hope the MP remakes and Control 2 will see the light of day and the studio will survive. They really scratch that itch no one else does.
 
winjer said:
It has it's fans. But it didn't set the world on fire.
It took almost 2 years to break even, because most players didn't care about it.
I'm not saying it's a bad game, just that it's unremarkable. And the sales numbers reflect that.
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You are refusing to actually critique anything or say why it was unremarkable? I'm telling you - a game that unique and ambitious, while still having the polish and technical elements of a AAA is pretty remarkable.
 
winjer said:
It has it's fans. But it didn't set the world on fire.
It took almost 2 years to break even, because most players didn't care about it.
I'm not saying it's a bad game, just that it's unremarkable. And the sales numbers reflect that.
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Sales numbers have no bearing on a games quality. CoD, Fortnight, and Roblox are not the best games ever made. It's perfectly possible to be extremely high quality and be niche at the same time. Plenty of outstanding games release each year that have mediocre sales.
 
Zathalus said:
Sales numbers have no bearing on a games quality. CoD, Fortnight, and Roblox are not the best games ever made. It's perfectly possible to be extremely high quality and be niche at the same time. Plenty of outstanding games release each year that have mediocre sales.
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And plenty of great games that sell accordingly. And AW2 was not one of them.
Once again, I'm not saying it's a bad game, just that it's nothing special.
It's a niche game, that appeal to a small audience. But most people don't care about what it has to offer.
 
winjer said:
Cyberpunk 2077, Baldru's gate 3, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Expedition 33, God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, Metaphor: ReFantazio, etc....
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Okay. God of war, ghosts, kingdom, all have very generic narratives. Metaphor is pretty stock JRPG with no atmosphere. Baldurs, expedition and cyberpunk are literally the 3 best games in the last 5 years for big narratives. So I guess Alan Wake 2 is in good company. I still much prefer the tone and structure of Alan Wake 2. Love the twin peaks vibe combines with a bit of True Detective etc. I need to replay it tbh.

winjer said:
And plenty of great games that sell accordingly. And AW2 was not one of them.
Once again, I'm not saying it's a bad game, just that it's nothing special.
It's a niche game, that appeal to a small audience. But most people don't care about what it has to offer.
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It's a niche game that has the AAA polish and quality. Yet actually has an ambitious and unique narrative. Yet you seem to think that's unremarkable? Lol.

We are lucky studios like Remedy are still swinging for the fences like this. We don't want them to turn into another corporate safe slop studio. Surely we can all agree with that?

Why do people on here talk like they are on the board of the studio and are purely concerned with profits and losses? Soul destroying to see from what is meant to be an "enthusiasts" forum.
 
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winjer said:
And plenty of great games that sell accordingly. And AW2 was not one of them.
Once again, I'm not saying it's a bad game, just that it's nothing special.
It's a niche game, that appeal to a small audience. But most people don't care about what it has to offer.
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It's 89 on both metacritic and opencritic. That puts it up there in terms of being special, especially since it got plenty of GoTY nominations. Is it genre defining? No, but it's hardly run of the mill, or mediocre either.

It's also not that niche, it passed over 2 million sold over half a year ago, despite not being on Steam which basically killed 80% of PC sales.
 
Zathalus said:
It's 89 on both metacritic and opencritic. That puts it up there in terms of being special, especially since it got plenty of GoTY nominations. Is it genre defining? No, but it's hardly run of the mill, or mediocre either.

It's also not that niche, it passed over 2 million sold over half a year ago, despite not being on Steam which basically killed 80% of PC sales.
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Seriously, using Metacritic and Opencritic as points of reference.....
 
winjer said:
Seriously, using Metacritic and Opencritic as points of reference.....
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Ah yes, the classic reviewers don't count because it doesn't align with my own worldview (but it totally counts when it is a game I like). I already mentioned user reviews as well, on metacritic is has a player rating of 85 and opencritic it has 90. Epic store rating is 4.8 and PS store rating is 4.68 (from 49k ratings).
 
Zathalus said:
It's 89 on both metacritic and opencritic. That puts it up there in terms of being special, especially since it got plenty of GoTY nominations. Is it genre defining? No, but it's hardly run of the mill, or mediocre either.

It's also not that niche, it passed over 2 million sold over half a year ago, despite not being on Steam which basically killed 80% of PC sales.
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The game only exists because it's not on Steam. Epic literally paid for it's development. I'd say it's pretty niche, 2 million in sales on a $75 million dollar budget isn't exactly lighting the world on fire.
 
RafterXL said:
The game only exists because it's not on Steam. Epic literally paid for it's development. I'd say it's pretty niche, 2 million in sales on a $75 million dollar budget isn't exactly lighting the world on fire.
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Yes it isn't some mega blockbuster, but it's hardly that obscure. Epic is the one that financed it (as it is a sequel to a really old game that didn't sell that well either), and that killed most of the PC sales.
 
Alan Wake 2 was almost set up to fail...

=> Epic games store exclusive
=> Digital only launch
=> Sweet Baby Inc. collaboration and all their bullshit - like race swapping Saga Anderson and pushing split protagonists like they did with Spider-Man 2.
=> Alan Wake only playable for 50% of the time in his own sequel

Then there was Firebreak... this actually caused Remedy to issue a profit warning - they expect their operating profit for 2025 to be negative and below 2024 levels.

CrossfireX... what the fuck was that all about???

Why Remedy don't make a survival horror game. Or something more mainstream I don't know. Its clear that they need to release something that is actually profitable. With that being said, I adore Max Payne 1 & 2. I also have a soft spot for Quantum Break.
 
Control took pretty much as long as Alan Wake 2 did to turn a profit and that game is considered a success, this has probably nothing to do with Alan Wake or else Remedy would have closed its doors long ago.
It was FBC being such a gigantic bomb that did him.
 
winjer said:
I'm not saying it's a bad game, just that it's unremarkable. And the sales numbers reflect that.
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I bought the game at launch. Haven't still finished it (haven't tried in ages either - currently it's in my backlog, which can be a graveyard of sorts), because while I'd like to see where the story is going (no matter how nonsensical), I just find the gameplay annoying. Mind you, this applies to the first Alan Wake as well (the story was far more interesting, if gibberish at times, than the gameplay), maybe I'm not in the target audience.
 
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PeteBull said:
Just make good non woke game and it will sell properly, remedy, is it really worth it to keep virtue signaling if it means lay offs and studio clousure? Just use common sense, guys, plz.
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Because strong men non woke games like Alan Wake and Quantum Break did gamgbusters.
 
The studio's future isn't looking very good. Max Payne 1+2 are funded by Rockstar, but I wouldn't expect the remakes to become huge hits, they simply won't lose any money from the project.

Control 2 is at risk of following into the footsteps of Alan Wake 2 and taking ages to recoup development costs. At some point someone's going to lose patience having to wait over a year (or maybe even longer) for profits and that could jeopardize future bigger projects (including AW3). Mimimi was in a similar situation. Their projects were getting harder and harder to become profitable so they decided to leave the gaming business instead of dealing with the stress of finding investors and hoping that their games will sell well enough.
 
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Cyberpunkd said:
Maybe if they didn't make it Epic Store exclusive it would have been a bit better for them? It's not like there is no other PC platform that has 90% of the market....

Wait What Wtf GIF
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The problem is that Epic bankrolled Alan Wake 2, so it is/was Epic's call where to release the game on.
 
I wonder if Finnish COO Haiseva Henki will take over that position. Or maybe the Japanese VP Hajosiko Toyotasi.
 
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AW2 was a disaster, took more than a year to make a profit. Not to mention this stupid GaaS game with is another flop.

If he is the guy behind all those bad decisions I say good riddance.
 
Alan wake 2 epic store exclusivity deal was one of the most moronic deal in recent times. I don't care if its epic money that made it all possible to begin with, even with that they barely broke even and now its stuck on a storefront that doesn't give a shit to release it on steam down the line to pump money up.
 
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