Control Spinoff (and Sequel) Teased by Remedy Entertainment

I’ll be honest with you. Control is possibly one of my favorite immersive games of the past few years, if not all time. I rank Control up there with experiences like Bioshock, Fallout 4, and other such games that immerse you in not just a single story, but an entire world. To my extreme joy and pleasure, Remedy Entertainment (via a blog post) has revealed that not only will Control have a sequel, but a spinoff as well.

Let’s talk about the spinoff first, because that’s what we have the most information on. Dubbed “Project Condor” by Remedy Entertainment, the spinoff will be a 4-player “Player vs Environment” style co-op game, set in the world of Control. In this blog post, Control franchise director (you read that right, FRANCHISE!) Mikael Kasurinen not only took the time to emphasize the “world” part of that, but also he provided a picture he says “tells pretty well what Condor is about.”

The image is something that Polygon (who reported on this earlier) interpreted as a joke. However, I think it says it all really if you’ve played Control at all. It shows four FBC (Federal Bureau of Control) rangers sitting on a bench, with a body in a body bag on the ground in front of them. My interpretation of this is you (and ostensibly your friends) will be a team, sent to handle Altered World Events set in the main world of Control.

After all, the FBC doesn’t just take on creatures like The Hiss, they handle things like Carousel Horses that move with immense speed, and other unexplainable things. Kasurinen also understands that people will be likely skeptical about the idea of a multiplayer game set in this world, but he is confident that they can remain faithful to Control’s vision in those parameters.

He states his thought process clearly: “We get that there is going to be skepticism about multiplayer. But I believe we can create shared experiences without compromising the unique DNA of who we are, or the stories we want to tell. 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?

The Vanguard team has done awesome progress on that front already, and the possibilities there are extremely exciting. Both games will be different examples of how you can collectively experience our worlds.

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.”

What truly excites me though, is that he also elaborated on what many fans of Control have already suspected. Jesse Faden’s adventures as Director of the FBC are not over. Granted, he doesn’t quite come out and say exactly that, but he does mention more Control titles to come by stating:

“But as said, Control is more than one location, character, or story. We have more. Something ambitious. As today’s announcement stated, “have outlined high-level collaboration terms to further expand the Control franchise with a bigger-budget Control-game”. I, unfortunately, cannot go into more detail than that, but suffice to say, I’m extremely excited for the future of the Control franchise.

Building games takes years. Establishing the right partnerships is crucial in order to form the right foundation, both financially, creatively, and from a technological standpoint. Rest assured, we want to build on the very foundation of Control and the success it had, thanks to you.”

Kasurinen then finished off the blog post (and address to fans) by saying that official Control merchandise is on its way to celebrate Control’s second anniversary in August. Additionally, he mentioned that it will likely be some time before we find out more about these next adventures with the FBC. However, there are “other Remedy experiences coming from our studio that I know you will love.”

He undoubtedly refers to the teased sequel to Alan Wake, which connects officially into the Control universe thanks to the AWE expansion. I for one am very glad that there is more coming from Remedy and that Control is going to be a franchise. There were a lot of loose ends left at the end of Control’s story, particularly in regards to Dylan Faden’s ultimate fate, and Jesse’s connection to Polaris and The Board.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go try and make sure that the FBC doesn’t call me in for questioning by the time Control 2 (or Project Condor) comes out. I can’t go drawing too much attention to things that are meant to be kept secret after all. Seriously though, if you haven’t played Control or its DLC’s, there’s a Steam sale going on! What are you waiting for?