Control’s Remedy wants ‘a continuity’ between its games

Control developer Remedy says it’s aiming to create a sense of “continuity” between its action games, so that they can be seen as a “shared experience.”

However, game director Mikael Kasurinen would not be drawn on specifics of the narrative plan as he said he does not want to give players all the answers.

Remedy now owns the rights to both Alan Wake and Control, while the IP for 2016 Xbox One exclusive Quantum Break remains under Microsoft’s control.

“Alan Wake belongs to us and so does Control,” Kasurinen explained. “We can do whatever we want with either of those.

“When we create a game universe we take great care when we think about them: we don’t just throw them together. We’re looking at all Remedy games to have a continuity, like they can be seen as a shared thing.”

Kasurinen would not confirm if that meant creating a shared universe of game IP in particular. Rather than spelling out its narrative plans to players, he said he wants to create “a sense of discovery” for the community.

“I want the community to work together and piece together the story,” he said. “I don’t want to tell them what it is, I want them to figure it out.

“I want people to feel like it’s up to them to take this and come to their own conclusions, and there are a lot of things in this experience to piece together.”

Part of ensuring the mystery around Control’s plot has required the game’s developers to keep tight lipped, he explained.

“I realised very early on that we needed to be very careful what we said to the press in particular, but that all serves the experience of getting into the game and understanding what’s there.

“I want the game to haunt you a bit: some of the things that you see don’t make sense and it percolates in the back of your head for a while.”

In a lengthy feature published this week, Kasurinen detailed the making of Control.

Control is out now for Xbox One, PS4 and PC via Epic Games Store. Read VGC’s Control game review for more.