'Control Resonant' Becomes a Much-Needed Surprise Hit for Remedy

Published Nov 3, 2026, 12:51 PM EST Elijah is a freelance news writer at Polygon. He was an associate editor at The A.V. Club and Paste, and has been featured in outlets like Game Informer, Fanbyte, Unwinnable, and more. He loves media in all forms, from fighting games and horror flicks to slow cinema and visual novels. He's from the Greater Boston area. Resonant is Remedy's fastest-selling game ever Image: Remedy Entertainment Sign in to your Polygon.com account Fans of Alan Wake and Control creator Remedy Entertainment can finally breathe a sigh of relief. After executive shake-ups and fiscal underperformance at the beloved studio, it seems that the team’s latest game is finding an audience. In a new report released on Tuesday, Remedy wrote that Control Resonant “received excellent player reception and became the fastest-selling Remedy game to date.” The company's third-quarter revenue more than tripled compared to last year, surging by 226%. What’s more impressive is that the revenue spike includes only Resonant’s pre-orders and its first seven days of sales before the end of the company’s third quarter in late September. The game was released on Sept. 24. Remedy’s new CEO, Jean-Charles Gaudechon, was quite happy with the game’s performance. “This is our first self-published game of this scale, built on our own Control IP. Praised by players and critics alike, it marks a defining milestone for the company.” Back on Oct. 15, Remedy announced that Resonant had already sold one million copies. Gaudechon went on to highlight how the game was praised for “Remedy’s willingness to take creative risks and surprise its players.” He added that he was happy with the game’s technical performance. "Positive commentary over its scalability across a variety of PC hardware meant a larger audience could enjoy Control Resonant. This is a testament to our in-house Northlight game engine, which enables the distinctive look and feel that has come to define Remedy’s games.” While Resonant didn't receive unanimous critical praise, reviews were generally positive, albeit not as glowing as the studio's usual output. Resonant was clearly a big swing for the company, as Gaudechon added that the game received the studio’s largest marketing investment in its history. The United States was its largest market, accounting for nearly half of sales. On PC, China and the U.K. ranked second and third after the U.S., while the U.K. and Canada were second and third for console sales. Gaudechon expressed satisfaction that the game reached a wider audience. “Based on analytic data, close to 50% of players were new to Control,” he said. “Reaching new players was a key goal for this game, and these early results indicate a growing audience for the franchise and for Remedy.” Why were there concerns about Remedy’s future? In June 2025, Remedy released the multiplayer game FBC: Firebreak, which received fairly tepid reviews and failed to find players. Remedy said the game didn’t meet sales expectations, prompting a profit warning that the company wouldn't hit its fiscal targets for the year. 12 days after the profit warning, former CEO Tero Virtala left his role. Remedy posted a €14.9 million operating loss for 2025. On Feb. 9, 2026, the company announced that former Electronic Arts executive Gaudechon was the company’s new CEO. While there were concerns that the change would make Remedy resemble the much-hated EA, at least so far, that hasn’t happened. Hopefully, Control Resonant's success means the studio will remain a bastion of strange ideas in a game industry that's increasingly playing it safe.