Remedy Entertainment

Remedy Entertainment is a Finnish video game developer based in Espoo, founded in August 1995 by members of the demoscene group Future Crew. They are one of Finland’s oldest operating game studios, known for cinematic single-player action games with strong storytelling. Their catalog includes Max Payne, Alan Wake, Quantum Break, Control, and Alan Wake II.

Remedy Entertainment Origin Story: From the Demoscene to Max Payne

Death Rally and the Early Years

Remedy’s first game was Death Rally in 1996, a top-down vehicular combat racing game. Max Payne followed in 2001, known for its film noir influences and for popularizing bullet time in video games. It was Finland’s highest-grossing game at the time. Remedy sold all rights to Max Payne to Take-Two for $10 million in exchange for developing the sequel.

Remedy Entertainment Games

Alan Wake (2010)

Spent over five years in development. Set in the small town of Bright Falls, following a bestselling thriller novelist whose fictional writings begin coming to life. Time named it the number one game of 2010. Financially unsuccessful at launch but became a cult classic. Remedy acquired the publishing rights from Microsoft in 2019.

Control (2019)

Remedy’s first PlayStation game since Max Payne 2. Follows Jesse Faden who becomes director of a secretive government agency in a brutalist skyscraper full of paranormal phenomena. The game won multiple awards and sold over two million units. Connected to Alan Wake through DLC, beginning Remedy’s shared universe approach.

Alan Wake II (2023)

Published by Epic Games Publishing with a reported budget of 70 million euros, making it one of the most expensive games developed in Finland. Received strong reviews and sold over 2 million units by December 2024. Sam Lake appears as a fictional version of himself in the game.

FBC: Firebreak (2025)

Remedy’s first self-published game and first multiplayer title. A three-player co-op shooter set in the Control universe, it launched June 17, 2025 to mixed reviews and failed to meet Remedy’s sales expectations, resulting in a €14.9 million write-down. Updates improved the experience over time and the game hit over one million players in its first ten days, largely through Xbox and PlayStation subscription agreements, but player retention was poor. Remedy released a final major content update in March 2026 and confirmed no further content development, dropping the base price to $19.99 and promising to keep servers running. The experience pushed Remedy back toward its narrative single-player strengths with Control 2 as the priority.

What’s Next for Remedy

Control Resonant was announced at The Game Awards 2025 as the sequel to Control. A partnership with Annapurna Pictures will bring Alan Wake and Control adaptations to film and television. Remedy is also remaking the original Max Payne games.