Despite the potential for multiplayer games to earn a lot of money, they always represent something of a financial risk – for every Helldivers 2 you have at least a couple of Concords. Remedy’s own FBC Firebreak, a multiplayer shooter set in the world of Control and Alan Wake, has been known to be struggling, but now the extent of its loss has been made clear.
Remedy have revealed a non-cash impairment of €14.9 million, reducing its long-term sales forecasts for the game.
Remedy expected to its operating profits and revenue to increase year-on-year, but have instead lowered its expectations as a warning to investors. Despite FBC Firebreak suffering, Remedy’s Q2 sales posted in August jumped 63.5%. Remedy stated that game sales, primarily FBC Firebreak, drove these sales, but also acknowledged that the game underperformed on Steam, where it was expected to thrive. It instead performed better on console subscription services.
FBC Firebreak Sales
It wasn’t FBC Firebreak alone that drove these sales, however. Both Alan Wake 2 and Control were said to have supported that income, with the latter selling over five million copies.
However, with Remedy adding a major September update for FBC that overhauled several systems, this disappointment may take even more of a toll – especially as the developer had previously stated that they were “confident” about the post-launch life of the game.
The revenue for Q2 has been stated to have been €16.9 million, with an operating loss of €0.5 million.
Upcoming Remedy Games
It’s known that Control 2 is in the works, as well as a remake of both Max Payne 1 and 2. While it’s likely that both of these plans are still on-track, it’s worth noting what this failure might mean for Remedy’s multiplayer ambitions, at least for now.
While financial pressures hang over the heads of all game developers, Remedy have previously made it clear what kind of targets that they’re chasing.
In the case of Control 2, Remedy stated that it would need to sell three-to-four million copies in order to break even, stating in that same report that Firebreak would need to sell three million for that same result. Given that the first Control has recently just crossed the five million threshold, this certainly seems doable – especially if Remedy find that their audiences resonate more with the single-player experiences that they’re known for.
