Alan Wake 2’s Remedy May Be a AAA Dev, But They’ve Admitted AA Budget for Next Big Game

Alan Wake 2 was a massive triumph for the gaming community; however, it caused some panic since it didn’t sell as well as the developers had hoped. Nevertheless, Remedy Entertainment drummed up the courage to go solo and decide where to take their franchises.

It is no secret that the developers are actively working on a new project, but recent reports suggest that the budget for this project is much smaller than usual. Game budgets usually indicate how much developers are willing to spend on a project, but it doesn’t typically reflect the overall quality.

Remedy Entertainment’s Next Game Has a Smaller Budget Than Alan Wake 2

Development budgets for recent AAA video games continue to skyrocket, and as a result, the gaming community has certain expectations. Alan Wake 2 was released in 2023, and despite the high demand for the sequel, it did not sell as fast as the developers had hoped. There were a few factors behind it, such as the decision to go all digital and limit the market to the Epic Games Store for the PC community.

Despite the rough launch, the game collected rewards and accolades and was even a contender for Game of the Year 2023. While this looks good on paper, this game gives the developers some pause to reconsider how they will allocate resources for future projects. In a recent interview with Tero Virtala, the CEO of Remedy Entertainment, shared a few updates about the highly anticipated sequel of Control:

I think with that we can create excellent games

Virtala briefly discussed how the Control sequel’s budget will be much less than Alan Wake 2, and how it is not a bad thing for the company:

If the team sticks to that budget and the game sells two million units, “we are at break-even per game.

The lower the budget, the faster a game can break even. This is Virtala’s philosophy moving forward, and it has its merits. A lower budget may seem like it will reflect the upcoming game’s quality, but this can help limit the developers to make the most of the resources they have at their disposal and keep them on track.

Alan Wake 2 was a phenomenal horror title, but Remedy Entertainment might have spent a little too much and given itself a problem to break even in a certain amount of time. Perhaps this new strategy could pave the way for Remedy Entertainment to create AAA games with AA budgets, and set the standard with Control 2.

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