Alan Wake And Control Fans Are Worried About Remedy's New CEO

Alan Wake and Control developer Remedy Entertainment has always been a bit of an oddity in the gaming industry, mostly because it kind of marches to the beat of its own drum. It has an incredible reputation for making very high-profile and excellent games that eventually continue to do so okay in terms of sales.

For example, Alan Wake 2 was a hit for Remedy, sweeping various awards even as Baldur's Gate 3 was out there dominating every awards show under the sun. Despite this, it didn't sell very well, as the game only managed to recoup its development costs over a year after launch.

TG Sam Lake close-up with Alan Wake and Control on either side

Family

Sam Lake And Remedy deserves so much more recognition and love

Show me the master of light.

But last year, Remedy ended up producing a rare stinker in FBC: Firebreak, which was a multiplayer shooter set in the Control universe that bombed pretty spectacularly at launch. Because of that, Remedy has struggled financially of late, and many believe that the failure of FBC: Firebreak prompted former CEO Tero Virtala to step down.

Alan Wake And Control Fans Are Worried About Remedy's New CEO

Remedy needed a new CEO, and in a new report to investors released yesterday (thanks PC Gamer), it was announced that Jean-Charles Gaudechon would be stepping into the role. The report explains that Gaudechon “held executive positions with full P&L responsibility” at CCP Games and Electronic Arts, and that's all fans needed to hear for alarm bells to start ringing.

There are a couple of phrases that are worrying fans right now, such as Gaudechon's claim that he aims to “scale Remedy in a way that builds lasting value” and “deliver sustainable value to our players, partners and shareholders.” Coupled with the fact that he primarily worked on live service games during his time at EA, and fans are already screaming doom and gloom.

“This is heartbreaking, Remedy was beautiful while it lasted,” said a user named Kaloii in a post about Gaudechon's hiring in the Gaming subreddit. “Well, it was good while it lasted,” said a user named Arkayjiya. “Hopefully we'll still get the games they're working on right now. Bye Remedy, you were cool.”

There were some fans there hoping that Gaudechon does a good job and actually manages to improve Remedy's profits in a positive way, giving the studio more money to work its magic and produce more interesting games. The vast majority of that is people mourning Remedy, though, and while there aren't any red flags right now, a money-focused CEO taking over a studio that's primarily focused on a player is enough to worry even the most optimistic gamer out there.