Remedy Entertainment is teaming up with Annapurna Pictures to expand the world of Control. The most concrete part of the news is that Annapurna — which also has an indie game publishing arm — will be funding half of the development budget for the previously announced Control 2.
Beyond that, there’s the potential for Annapurna to create film and TV adaptations of both Control and Alan Wake, which just got a long-awaited sequel last year. No specific projects were announced. “Annapurna will take the lead in expanding Control and Alan Wake into new entertainment mediums,” the companies explain in a press release, “enabling Remedy to focus on the development of Control 2 and other upcoming games.”
Notably, the release also says that “Remedy will retain the full IP rights for Control and Alan Wake.” (The studio purchased the rights for Control from publisher 505 Games earlier this year.)
Remedy has some track record with sneaking live-action moments into its games, and 2016’s Quantum Break was an interesting exercise in merging TV and gaming. The studio’s games — Control and Alan Wake included — are also heavily influenced by film and TV, most notably the works of David Lynch. So the expansion into these mediums makes a lot of sense, particularly as the various worlds of entertainment continue to crossover.
“The future of storytelling requires seamlessly integrating gaming, film, and television,” Annapurna CEO Megan Ellison explained in a statement, “and this partnership will allow us to explore new ways of bringing these narratives to life.”