Remedy confirms that Codename Heron is Control 2
It's being co-developed and co-published with 505 Games but won't be appearing soon.
Surprising absolutely nobody, Remedy has confirmed that the "bigger budget Control game" formerly known as Codename Heron is indeed Control 2. The developer has signed a co-development and co-publishing agreement with 505 Games, sharing the news alongside a piece of concept art.
"With Control 2, we’ll take another leap into the unknown," says game director Mikael Kasurinen. "It’ll be an unexpected journey. It’ll take a while, but to put it mildly, this is the most exciting project I’ve ever worked on. It’s still early days, but it will be worth the wait."
Remedy still owns the IP, but the developer will be sharing the load with 505 Games, splitting the costs of development and marketing, as well as net revenue, equally. Remedy's going to be handling publishing on PC, while 505 will handle the console launch.
"Control is the biggest investment 505 Games has ever made," say Rami and Raffi Galante, co-CEOs of 505 Games, "so it has a special place in our hearts."
The pair will be playing with a €50 million budget (just over $51 million), which is around $20 million more than the development budget for the original Control, which was less than $30 million. Where that extra budget will go remains to be seen, however, as Remedy and 505 aren't giving much away yet, aside from the fact that it's being built on Remedy's Northlight engine. It's still in the concept stage.
Remedy is going to be pretty busy, as this isn't the only project it's working on. Alan Wake 2 is on-track for next year, and there's a co-op Control spin-off, currently known as Codename Condor, that's still being prototyped.
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Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.