It’s a nutty idea, we know, but it sure seems like if a developer consistently offers an engaging, challenging game that tests the boundaries of the medium, at least some players will fall all over themselves to support them. Take Remedy, the developers of such freaky oddball games as Max Payne and Alan Wake, which just launched Control Resonant, the sequel to its 2019 supernatural action game Control, on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. Naturally, “cracked” copies of its latest (meaning, games that evade verification, making them playable without purchase) are already making the rounds on piracy sites; however, it sure looks like Remedy’s good reputation is generating online chatter extolling the virtues of paying real money for a video game. Now, how about that!
This comes from IGN, which reports a growing sentiment within online piracy circles to support the developer amid increasing “fan uncertainty” about its future, with players telling each other that Control Resonant needs to succeed to ensure Remedy’s continued good work. (IGN previously reported that Remedy needs to sell between three and four million copies to see a return on its estimated $52.9 million investment.) Worries about Remedy’s current financial situation appear to stem from reports that its 2023 sequel, Alan Wake 2, remained in the red a year after its launch (it recouped development and marketing costs in late 2024), and that lackluster player interest in its Control spinoff, FBC: Firebreak, led Remedy to scale back its initial plans for the online multiplayer. With this in mind, pirates are feeling uncharacteristically generous about supporting Control Resonant and its trippy, axis-shifting environments. “One of the very few games I’m going to be buying,” a player reportedly wrote, which was very nice of them. “Remedy are on the brink of bankruptcy, this is their make or break title, I love their games and gotta do what I can to keep them afloat.” (For the record, Remedy is not on the “brink” of anything at the moment, other than releasing its remakes of Max Payne 1 and 2.)
Indeed, the generally indifferent hearts of gamer pirates grew three sizes that day, as wallets were theoretically opened and support for Remedy’s pretty darn good games proliferated across spaces designed to refuse money for them and developers like them. “I wasn’t planning to buy it but now I feel like I should,” another gamer said. “I like Remedy. They do good games.” Yet another chimed in: “I feel like this is one of the games which you shouldn’t pirate if you can. Remedy makes unique, innovative games, they need this funding.” But before anyone starts believing that meritocratic sentiment is enough to compel all the pirates to spend some cash, one player piped up with, “That’s great idea [sic], but this is a piracy reddit […] I gotta eat so this is being pirated,” they said, before adding, “But they do deserve success.”
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