Remedy vows creative reset after Firebreak flop, Control Resonant looms in 2026

Remedy Entertainment is trying to turn a bruising year into a referendum on its original identity. After the disastrous launch of the multiplayer shooter FBC: Firebreak helped force out former chief executive Tero Virtala, the Helsinki studio is pinning its next act on Control Resonant, a larger and more open game set in a warped Manhattan and scheduled for 2026.

The comeback effort now sits in the hands of Jean-Charles Gaudechon, who became CEO effective March 1, 2026. Remedy says Gaudechon brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in global gaming and digital entertainment, and he has been tasked with steering the company back toward the qualities that made it stand out: distinctive worlds, memorable intellectual property and unusually high production values. In practice, that means a return to the premium single-player lane rather than a race to imitate the live-service market that Firebreak never mastered.

The pressure is easy to quantify. In January through September 2025, Remedy reported revenue of EUR 42.5 million, up 8.9% year on year, but operating profit fell to EUR -15.6 million. Virtala stepped down on October 22, 2025, after a profit warning tied to weak sales of Firebreak, which Remedy had positioned as its first self-published game and originally expected to ship in 2025. The failure exposed the risk in the studio’s push to broaden beyond its signature story-driven format.

Control Resonant is now the clearest test of whether that pivot can be reversed. Remedy announced the game in December 2025 and says it will arrive on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store, and Mac through Steam and the App Store. The company describes it as a bigger, more open adventure in the Control universe, with players taking control of Dylan Faden as they move through a warped Manhattan. That framing matters: it suggests a wider commercial reach without abandoning the surreal tone that defined Control.

The stakes extend beyond one release. In 2024, Remedy acquired full rights to the Control franchise from 505 Games, struck a strategic partnership with Annapurna and took out a EUR 15 million convertible loan from Tencent to support self-publishing. The company has also set 2027 targets of doubling 2024 revenue and reaching a 30% EBITDA margin. For Gaudechon, the challenge is not just to ship another hit, but to prove that Remedy can grow without losing the creative identity investors still expect it to protect.