505 Games to close offices in three countries after selling Control IP to Remedy

Publisher already cut jobs last year

Publisher 505 Games is reportedly closing down its local offices in Germany, France, and Spain to further cut its operating costs. According to Gamereactor, the move will result in less than ten workers losing their jobs, which is a much smaller tally than last year’s wave of layoffs at Digital Bros, the publisher’s parent company. This leaves 505 Games with its main base in Italy and an office in the United Kingdom.

Just yesterday, Remedy Entertainment announced that it acquired the full rights to the Control IP from 505 Games for a sum of €17 million Euro after a long period of cooperation. Remedy CEO Tero Virtala commented: “Ever since we signed up with 505 Games in 2017 to develop and publish Control, we have enjoyed a good partnership in building Control into a successful game that has sold over 4 million units and generated shareable net revenue of approximately €100 million to Remedy and 505 Games. As part of Remedy’s long-term strategy to have more ownership over our business and the IPs we have created, we have gotten back all rights for Control and the in-development Condor and Control 2.”

Remedy has bought back all rights to the Control IP / Remedy Entertainment

He added: “Having complete ownership over the Control franchise gives us the freedom to decide the best path forward. We will consider our options carefully, knowing that Control is considered an attractive franchise by many partners. Condor and Control 2 have both progressed well in recent months and we expect these projects to reach their next development stages during the first half of 2024. The development of Condor and Control 2 will continue normally when we consider the best publishing, distribution and financing model for these projects.”

Virtala thanked 505 Games “for our partnership over the years and for helping to establish Control as a gaming franchise with a lot of future potential.”

Control has been one of 505 Games’ bigger IPs in recent years and any follow-up to the title would surely have been a lucrative prospect for the company, especially after Remedy’s star rising even higher thanks to the success of Alan Wake 2. Though the transaction may help to alleviate some of 505 Games’ financial woes, this looks like a worrying move by the publisher.