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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Remedy has provided a rare insight into the business of making video games, even going as far as to reveal exactly how many copies its future games need to sell in order to achieve 100% ROI level (i.e. the equivalent to doubling your investment).

The video game industry is typically secretive when it comes to its commercial realities, and rarely does it provide development or marketing budgets or sales projections. But Remedy, developer of Alan Wake 2, has done just that in an investment-focused meeting, discussing the upcoming Control 2 PvE shooter FBC Firebreak.

It’s worth prefacing this by saying Remedy is talking about the sales needed to make a 100% return on investment (ROI) on these games, and that’s expected over a period of three to five years after. The game budgets, Remedy said, were set with their price points and expected sales in mind, and are “realistic.

Let’s start with FBC Firebreak, Remedy's new multiplayer game set in the Control universe billed as a three-player co-op experience (it’s worth bearing in mind FBC Firebreak will be available day one on Xbox Game Pass and PS Plus Extra, which will secure additional revenue from Microsoft and Sony).

The development budget for Firebreak is 30 million euros (approx $31.7 million), and will carry a mid-price point. To secure 100% ROI, it needs to sell three million copies during its lifetime.

Moving on to Control 2, as a full-price triple-A game Remedy is set to self-publish (and therefore retain a larger cut of revenue), the development budget is higher: 50 million euros (approx $52.9 million). Control 2 needs to sell between three and four million copies to break even. Control 2, by the way, is an action RPG, Remedy said today.

Is that realistic? According to Remedy, the first Control game has now sold over 4.5 million, so it’ll be hoping Control 2 can reach or even exceed that figure. Encouraging the studio will be the fact that Control has reached an impressive 19 million players with the help of various subscription services, so the audience interested in the sequel should be significant.

Remedy Reveals How Many Copies Control 2 and Firebreak Need to Sell to Break Even - IGN

Remedy has provided a rare insight into the business of making video games, even going as far as to reveal exactly how many copies its future games need to sell in order to break even.

www.ign.com

 

[Elginer]

I’ll buy both but add steam deck support you bitches

 

[nnytk]

Thanks for reminding me to play Control. I really appreciate the whole vibe surrounding this studio and their projects.

 

[Magic Carpet]

1 million on Steam, 1 million on Playstation, 1 million on Switch 2, 25,000 on Xbox, 12,000 on Quest 3. I think they are screwed.

edit- iPhone, Apple going to save gaming!

 

[Ironman_Bad]

Better get to fixing your ps5pro games cause I know a few people including myself not buying AW2 till it's better

 

[Gaiff]

Alan Wake 2’s budget was reportedly €70M, so I guess they need 4M copies to break even? They did get a nice cheque from Epic though, so that soften the blows.

 

[ValiantInstance]

I swear there's an article every week about how Remedy need x sales to break even. They're spoken about like they're a charity.

They make very pretty walking simulators. The general audience doesn't care about these games.

 

[poppabk]

Alan Wake 2’s budget was reportedly €70M, so I guess they need 4M copies to break even? They did get a nice cheque from Epic though, so that soften the blows.

They broke even day 1, they just won't see any profit unless they sell enough to cover the dev cost.

 

[Gaiff]

They broke even day 1, they just won't see any profit unless they sell enough to cover the dev cost.

Damn, so Epic fronted a huge amount of cash. I wonder if this was smarter than releasing it on Steam.

 

[touchfuzzy]

I'd say Control 2 can hit those numbers, but that Firebreak one is DOA. They'll be lucky to hit a tenth of that.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Alan Wake 2’s budget was reportedly €70M, so I guess they need 4M copies to break even? They did get a nice cheque from Epic though, so that soften the blows.

No, IGN is misinterpreting the slide, but my headline is accurate. 100% ROI is the equivalent to doubling your investment.

I'll need to edit the IGN's article in my OP I guess and remove the break even part.

Return on investment (ROI) is calculated by dividing the profit earned on an investment by the cost of that investment. For instance, an investment with a profit of $100 and a cost of $100 would have an ROI of 1, or 100% when expressed as a percentage.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Damn, so Epic fronted a huge amount of cash. I wonder if this was smarter than releasing it on Steam.

Probably was, one has risk the other does not

 

[Zathalus]

Almost certainly doable. 3-4 million copies across consoles and Steam/PC. Alan Wake 2 is just over a year old and that's at 1.8 million copies and is still not on Steam nor did it have physical copies at launch.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Why do studios keep setting themselves up for failure like this? You don't need to dump that much money into the game to stand out. You just don't.

 

[kruis]

Why do studios keep setting themselves up for failure like this? You don't need to dump that much money into the game to stand out. You just don't.

Yep. Better to spend less money and remain profitable than to wager the fate of a company with each ambitious release.

 

[Fake]

Man what a mess they got into to.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Cutting those 'Sweet baby' links might save some money eh..

Hell, you might even make some.

 

[Bernoulli]

Almost certainly doable. 3-4 million copies across consoles and Steam/PC. Alan Wake 2 is just over a year old and that's at 1.8 million copies and is still not on Steam nor did it have physical copies at launch.

They need some marketing with the physical launch

 

[SJRB]

Why is every fucking news article regarding Remedy about them (not) making back their investments? So bizarre.

Who keeps asking for these bi-weekly updates on Remedy's financial situation?

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

3M for Firebreak is crazy.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

 

[MiguelItUp]

I mean, I'll gladly support them if I enjoy the games. It's just SO weird, for whatever reason I can't for the life of me complete their games. It feels like something about them just makes me lose steam when I play them. Alan Wake, Alan Wake 2, Control, it happened with all of them. I think Alan Wake 2 was the worst because I put so much time into it, but then just stopped caring. Control I was pretty far into as well, and same thing.

I'm really excited about the Max Payne 1&2 remakes, because it's something I know I loved and enjoyed.

 

[Hrk69]

 

[nowhat]

Why do studios keep setting themselves up for failure like this?

Pure speculation, but - Remedy is a publicly traded company. Even if it's a penny stock in the Finnish exchange. You have to try to make yourself big. And if it doesn't work (you need to make your inner workings public, after all), you have to make yourself big in the future. Sometimes, given the size of the company, it's better to remain private.

 

[MagiusNecros]

3M for Firebreak is crazy.

It would have to be as good as Deep Rock Galactic. Which is probably impossible.

 

[TGO]

If they release physically this time I can see them doing 2-3 mill Digital/Physical combined across Playstation & Xbox
Maybe life time sales they'll hit 4mill
The pocket change can come from other platforms unless they don't limit who sells it.
Then they might get a another 2mill.... maybe on PC
Firebreak is DOA.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Only took 21 posts lol

 

[Duchess]

Thanks for reminding me to play Control.

Game is amazing. it's so damn weird! I like to say it's what you'd get if David Lynch made a video game.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

Why is every fucking news article regarding Remedy about them (not) making back their investments? So bizarre.

Who keeps asking for these bi-weekly updates on Remedy's financial situation?

I think it’s because there games are objectively very good but they don’t sell as highly as “expected”

Maybe we all need to set our expectations lower.

I think people are worried that they’ll end up going away or having to sell annd dilute themselves and there games are so unique that it would be a real shame.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Pure speculation, but - Remedy is a publicly traded company. Even if it's a penny stock in the Finnish exchange. You have to try to make yourself big. And if it doesn't work (you need to make your inner workings public, after all), you have to make yourself big in the future. Sometimes, given the size of the company, it's better to remain private.

Sure, but the point is that you don't have to dump an insane amount of money into high-fidelity visuals to have a big success. Look at the successful titles this year, for example - very few of them were chasing top-dollar presentation.

 

[analog_future]

3-4 million copies of Control 2 sounds reasonable to me. Just release it physical and on Steam.

 

[simpatico]

I will buy Control 2 on release if they don't ham it up. All they have to do is literally nothing. Make a by-the-numbers sequel and I'm there day 1. I wish I was confident that this is what they will do. But the offer stands. I hope the MP game finds an audience among that crowd.

 

[Puscifer]

Alan Wake 2’s budget was reportedly €70M, so I guess they need 4M copies to break even? They did get a nice cheque from Epic though, so that soften the blows.

I thought epic funded the entire game?

 

[TVexperto]

3M for Firebreak is crazy.

I dont know any AA studio that released a multiplayer last 2 years that sold that many

 

[NeverYouMind]

I don't even know what Firebreak is, but if they want Control 2 to reach those numbers they need to release day 1 on Steam. No Epic exclusivity bullshit.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Firebreak is never going to reach those numbers.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

Firebreak is one of those games not even the MP giga nerds in my Discord are talking about. At least two of them own every MP bomb possible including Concord. Well, prior to it being...revoked!

Zero interest. And after AW2 and replaying Control, I've pretty much lost any interest in Remedy in general.

 

[xenosys]

New PvE IP's are incredibly risky in today's market. I wouldn't be surprised if that Concorded.

Control 2's 3-4m is actually quite a realistic expectation, provided they give it 2-3 years. Control is sitting at 4m+ over 5 years. Alan Wake 2 is 1.8m after 13 months.

 

[Bridges]

I love Remedy but Firebreak will be lucky to hit half a million

 

[Branded]

I really want Firebreak to do well as it genuinely looks like a fun time. But I doubt it will reach 3M numbers.

Then again Farming Simulator 2024 just hit 2M no? So anything is possible lol.

 

[blue velvet]

Goodluck I guess. I find their games extremely mid though,

 

[Begleiter]

Stephen King once wrote that "they won't reach these numbers and frankly it's amazing they're still in business". If they weren't a pet studio for games journalists they wouldn't enjoy the coverage they do.

 

[bundylove]

Dear remedy.

I Will buy control 2 day one.
But only if you develop for consoles first.
After alan wake 2 i have no fait

 

[mayham2199]

Firebreak is one of those games not even the MP giga nerds in my Discord are talking about. At least two of them own every MP bomb possible including Concord. Well, prior to it being...revoked!

Zero interest. And after AW2 and replaying Control, I've pretty much lost any interest in Remedy in general.

I love Remedy but man does that game look bad. It reminds me a lot of that Rainbow Six Siege game they tried to release that was some sort of PVE MP game.

 

[lmimmfn]

There's something wrong in your AA strategy if you need 4 x 1 million x ~$43 euro per copy = 173 million to just break even.

Sorry but I call horse$hit on this, Remedy cut your costs by 50% by removing your useless woke activists, help yourselves and us gamers.

Otherwise, die by your sword.

 

[lmimmfn]

Dear remedy.

I Will buy control 2 day one.
But only if you develop for consoles first.
After alan wake 2 i have no fait

Don't get me wrong I love Remedys games but as far as I can remember their games always ran like crap unless using the latest PC hardware and that was just brute force.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Creating Firebreak is likely a mistake. Especially since they went with first person view.

 

[RoboCain]

Yeah well, how about releasing your games exclusive to Ubisoft Connect? Or maybe the Games for Windows Live store? How about Netflix?

Hell, you can bid on what crappy platform that no one cares about will have the honor to host your new game in exclusivity for many years.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Firebreak doesn't have MTX?

F**king dumb.

 

[Big Baller]

Dear Sam Lake