Analytic Dreamz: Notorious Mass Effect - "CONTROL RESONANT IS REMEDY'S MOST SUCCESSFUL STEAM LAUNCH EVER"

Episode Date: October 13, 2026

Linktree: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠⁠Join The Normandy For Ad-Free NME, Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠⁠ In this segment, Analytic Dreamz of Notorious Mass Effect provides a detailed breakdown of Control Resonant, Remedy Entertainment’s 2026 sequel to Control. Learn about the melee action RPG shift with Dylan Faden exploring a distorted Manhattan, shapeshifting weapons, aerial traversal, and zone-based progression. Key insights cover Steam launch success with 34,000+ concurrent players, strong Metacritic scores near 84, estimated 20-50 hour playtimes, sales performance, technical fixes, and the studio’s financial recovery. A must-listen for fans of surreal Remedy storytelling.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/analytic-dreamz-notorious-mass-effect/exclusive-contentPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Shepard, promise me you'll tell them to subscribe for free content. June 17th, 2025. You're probably thinking to yourself, what in the world does this have to do with control resonant? You guys. See, that's the problem. Ladies and gentlemen, that is the date where FPC fire break came out. I know that ain't who I think it is. And even though Remedy tried their best.

Safe to say it was not enough. As that particular game resulted in around $15 million as far as non-cash impairment, driving the 2025 operating loss, the CEO resignation, the support being reduced for remedy, and of course in an effort to let the player base know we still care about you. they said final content update it's issued but the servers will remain online and the reason why I clap that up is because usually when games go through a horrendous loss safe to say the developers would just be like

hey y'all didn't support it so the servers are going offline but they kept it up for the people who enjoy that specific game so the reason why I started off with fbc FBC firebreak coming out in 2025 and losing remedy around $15 million is because ladies and gentlemen did they bounce back like none other, as they objectively had their strongest steam launch ever with Control Resonant. If you don't know, Control Resonant came out September 24th, 2026 for PlayStation 5 Windows and Xbox Series X&S. Unfortunately, it did not make the Nintendo platform. Shepard.

All right, my fault. I ain't mean to rub it in. I'm just letting y'all know. Don't get mad at the Messenger. Anyways, over here, Notorious. Mass Effect, you already know we covered the gaming and music IPs that notoriously affect the masses. And safe to say, I know that ain't who I think it is. I said, Safe to Say, Control Resident made the gaming portion for episode 165.

You know what I'm saying? Just look at the state of gaming. Like, what is going on? And is it because of the sales of the notorious mass effect? No. But to be fair, the quality level, alongside. Remedy having the biggest ever Steam launch made it to where I believe

they definitely deserve to be the gaming portion of this particular episode because when you look at the month of September Control Resonant not objectively Control Resonant subjectively speaking is nominated

by the masses as a potential game of the year So anyways, when you get into Control Resonant specifically, you come to realize that you have Alan Wake, you have the first control, you have Quantum Break, you have FPC, Fire Break, there's all these games under Remedy, and then you come to realize. I know that ain't who I think it is. For those who know the origins of Remedy, Max Payne 1 and 2, as far as the original that came out in 2001, as far as the sequel that came out in 2003, of course, it's in partnership with the, the one and only rock star. You already know the amount of grant the bottle content that's been percolating throughout notorious mass effect in the last two to three months. So when you look at Remedy's rise partnering with Rockstar with Max Payne and you realize that's their claim to fame,

then they went on to make Alan Wake, Allen Wake 2, control, control resonant. You come to realize that not only did resonant benefit from the Rockstar catapult as far as their career, but they are also able to stand on their two feet. And as far as the evidence of being supported by somebody bigger than you and also being able to stand in your two feet, I mean, we've just seen the opposite in the recent, you know, just recently we've seen the opposite. You know what I'm saying?

Oh, come on, Kassanay. I'm talking about gaming right now, man. So anyways, as far as proof of remedy, actually being able to stand on its own after getting a mammoth of a catapult from Rockstar. Safe to say, when you look at their creation of the in-house engine, yes, they have a whole proprietary engine that's titled Northlight, right? And its narrative-focused, multi-platform evolved with ray tracing and path tracing,

and basically this is used on the control resonant game. And of course, when you look at Remedy's mainline entry of this story, you come to realize that the lighting, the graphics, whilst I will say Alan Wake probably has the most impressive graphics, when you look at the control games, it's still solid to the point where you come to realize that them using their end game, their in-house engine is very impressive in its own right. So with that out the way, ladies and gentlemen, when we talk about sales with control residents, it's not like it's the cover of episode 165 because it had enormous sales like the Goathe.

Is it okay? I got my dope on me. And like Taylor Swift, as far as notoriously affecting the masses in the music industry, Control Resident, definitely have respectful numbers, but it's not breaking records as far as consumption in the gaming industry. As far as those particular games, you know that currently is all ball and gun games running rampant because, of course, sports is going on right now as far as NFL, as far as NBA, you get the point. So basically, Control Resident on a gamer side of things, as far as the hardcore gamers is basically to a quality level that it has to be highlighted because I always say just because you sell the most does not mean you make the highest quality

of product and just because you don't sell does not mean you make abysmal straight up garbage just one of the worst all right basically the two don't correlate right the main thing when it comes to control resonant especially highlighting how quality high quality it is is talking about how the storyline makes it to where it's not a necessity to play the original control because one of the main things when it comes to remedy is it doesn't hold your hand sometimes i'd be thinking to myself man where is the yellow paint shepherd i'm my fault basically my wolverine fans probably want to love to hear that you know i'm saying so anyway so when it comes to the lack of yellow paint remedy does not hold your hand and that's the same with the story because with this

particular story, you're focusing on Dylan, who is the brother of the main protagonist in the first control game. So for making this storyline not a necessity that you have to watch or play the original, I think is a pretty hard task because of how in-depth they go with the stories. Because when you look at the three mainline entries, you have control in 2019, you have controlled resonant. That's the sequel, right? But you come to realize that Alan Wake one and too. If you don't know, Alan Wake came out 2010, Alan Wake 2 came out 2023. Not apparently. It's definitely linked when it comes to the control universe in the Allen Wake universe. So some people may be feeling like newcomers to MCU as far as the Marvel Cinematic Universe as far as keeping

up with the story. That is why Control Resonant made it apparent and made it a highlighted point that you do not have to play the original control so people don't get overwhelmed. with the amount they have to consume before they play this game. So you can dive into this game without having played Allen Wake or the original control. Now that's out the way, when you get more into the sales perspective, you come to realize that even though the sales isn't breaking any type of records, right? For Remedy, it definitely broke a lot of records as for them, specifically on Steam. It had their highest ever peak as far as concurrent on Steam.

control resident had i think i had the actual number control resident had 42 000 as far as an all-time peak 16 days ago right and then you look at the other games that had their peaks uh control ultimate addition had a 9.2 000 peak alan wake had a 6.6000 peak which to be fair ala wake 2 the sequel so not the original i just said the sequel was initially an epic exclusive that was really positively received so i don't know the numbers for that specifically when it comes to epic but it's not on here so i'm just assuming that this is a top so you have control resident at 42 000 peak on steam control ultimate addition with 9000 peak on steam all awake with 6 000 quantum break with 2 000 and fbc firebreak with 2 000 as far as a peak on steam

so the reason why i'm even saying that in regarding in regards to sales is because the fbc firebreak break game, which was a three-player co-op control spinoff, right? Self-published title, they was like, we can make tremendous story-focused games. Let's try our hand at a multi-player game because, of course, that makes all the revenue as you've seen in the past five to ten years. You make a hit of a multiplayer shooter game, and you're just printing money hand over fist. So Remedy tried to make the FBC Fire Break game, and they missed all the financials, targets in the world to the point where they was facing some financial struggles.

As if you don't know, the firebreak impairment made it to where the revenue was down $15 million because of the firebreak impairment, right? And the cash flow was down by $40 million as far as when you compare it in the year, in the total year of 2025. But then, of course, when you look at 2026, The marketing ramp up started for a control resident. And then of course, control resident hit their actual financial markers.

And that made it to where it's now more of a positive cash flow overall because it was definitely a bounce back when you compare control resonant to FBC firebreak as far as a revenue standpoint. So remedy is still doing well. It's not like remedy is losing money to the point where they may go under. but control resident became even more of a priority as far as it being successful because two back-to-back games losing your money isn't the greatest especially in today's age in the gaming industry so even though they technically are independent the reason why I say independent with quotation marks is because they do have certain people investing in them right you have 10 cent um I believe rockstar doesn't finance them anymore but I believe 10 cents still has financial involvement but they still claim the whole independent route which you know there's nothing wrong with that even if you're independent and take a bag from certain

companies i believe that ultimately if there's certain things if majority of what you're doing is in-house and you just need loan every now and then i mean there's a lot of billionaires that take loans from banks do we call them independent or do we call them the uh connected to whatever bank right we still say they're independent so the main reason why i say that is because Remedy, from a storyline perspective, is a very impressive studio. But from a gameplay perspective, you're probably wondering how does this game play compared to the past control. Well, the main difference is instead of gun-focused shooting, right? The original control has shooting and telekinesis.

Resonant has more of a melee-focused action RPG set across a semi-open world Manhattan. It's almost as if the movie Inception. was put into a video game. And a lot of the reviews from the masses who played it are comparing it to Super Mario Galaxy. I don't know if it's Galaxy, but Super Mario, as far as just the platform and elements

and not innovative, but it's very optimized from a platform aspect and from an inception into a video game aspect, that is very innovative from an art direction. So it's not the gameplay loop that people are saying it's innovative. It's the overall art direction, which you probably are seeing while they're saying this and the gameplay I'm

showing right now, analytic dreams video on Spotify to see the video along with the audio. So if you don't know, once again, Dylan is the brother of the main protagonist in control, who is a girl, I believe, I forget her name. But basically Dylan is, oh, her name is Jesse Faden. So Dylan is Jesse Fadden's brother and former his host. as he searches for Jesse while supernatural threats spread through a distorted version of Manhattan. I'm not going to get into the story of control. It could get a little out of control, pun intended, as far as the comprehension,

because the depths that they go into with the story, I mean, when people say it's not that deep, best believe remedy is very deep. It's like the opposite. It is that deep as far as remedies of it. approach to storytelling and narrative. And they don't hold your hand a lot. So a lot of the explanations, I mean, they're basically like, if you don't figure it out yourself,

who do need they do? And we beat evil? We beat them. We go forward. The main thing when it comes to remedy is they don't hold your hand, but they make immaculate narratives to the point where you want to dive in yourself and learn more and take it upon yourself to learn more about the story because there's not a lot of hand holding and control in regardless, in general.

but definitely specifically when talking about control resonant. So you're playing the game as Dylan for the people with Don the Fives out there. You're probably wondering, how long would this game take me to beat? I'm glad you asked as the main story would take you around 20 to 25 hours to beat. But overall, if you want to play side content and actually explore the game, it could take you to 30 to 50 hours as far as the full completion is play through. Now, when you look at that level of detail in the game and realize you could be in that world to 50 to 60 hours, you come to realize while a lot of people are coming to the point where they are saying that this may be a game of the year contender.

Because of the art direction and them continuing that for 50 to 60 hours and then not getting old at any point in the game. because over here looking at the review and sales roundups, we take the masses, different perspectives, combine into one, and basically I disseminate it in a way that you understand what the masses are feeling towards this specific game. So if I played the game, obviously I'll tell you I played the game, like with Pragmatto earlier in the year,

there's another game I played, I forget, but it was Pragmata and there was this other game I beat before that. Oh, 007, I'm tripping. I think that was after the Pragmata. But anyways, I beat both of those games. They came out this year. When I did my review and sales deep dive onto that, I basically gave my personal review because I played the game.

For these reviewing sales roundups, it's more of a massive perspective, broken down so you understand what the majority consensus is and, of course, the sales objectives, objectively what the sales are for this game because you know that's what we do over here. So the reason why I broke that down is just for newcomers. But anyway, it's getting back into Control Reson.

Now, obviously, you can tell that this game will take a good amount of time to beat. So 30 to 50 hours, 50 plus hours is enough time to realize if you enjoy the game or not. And not even enjoy the game, but if you want to dive that many, if you want to put that many hours into this specific game, especially now that you know that it's at least 30 to 50, and you realize that the time that you dive, that you put into it, that you invest into the game, is rewarded in the long run. So another thing I was going to get into is that when it comes to control residents specifically, you come to realize that remedy is on an interesting hot streak, especially when it comes to the narrative aspect. Alan Wake 2 was highly positive as far as reviews.

control in 2019 was highly positive. It won best art direction at the Game Awards, right? When you look at Alan Wake, it won best narrative, best direction at the Game Awards. And then you come to realize all of these games sold millions of copies. Alan Wake 2 sold like 3 million plus sales,

control sold over 1 million in 2025 alone 6 million plus lifetime sales for the original control in 2019 when you look at control resonant even though I believe right now it is sold like a good amount but as far as millions I don't believe

it's at that threshold yet because let me see if I can find this yeah so as far as steam is doing really well the original control has six million plus lifetime sales. But when you look at resident, estimates is hundreds of thousands, but not millions. So it's really decided on the longevity of residence PC performance, especially if they want sales to continue for a resident. And I think marketing towards PC players would probably be the best route for remedy, especially when you're trying to capitalize on the dollar amount.

instead of going the other route as far as you know exclusivity which a lot of narrative focus games do nowadays and they you know they're here today gone tomorrow such as sarah so you know not the name drop but you know i just did so anyways um as it right now when you look at the game when you look at the sales it's not the most impressive but it's still solid the reason why i wanted to talk about this and make it the highlight of the episode is because of the art direction i think inception into a video game, while it may seem like a surefire hit, pulling it off in a way that Remedy did makes it to where it's a playable masterpiece in a way that you've never seen. Because art direction and gameplay loop, the unique aspect is something that always impresses me.

My favorite game this year in 2026 is Pragmata. Why? I've never played a video game where I enjoy. enjoyed the side puzzle while also shooting because you're hacking while while doing the puzzle. And the optimization of doing both of those at the same time and the feeling you get is way more enjoyable than you would think at first. As far as hearing it, but then playing it, you come to realize it's way more smooth and optimizing. and you thought it was going to be, because if somebody told you,

yeah, I'm making a whole game where you shoot while doing puzzles. You probably think that game is probably going to be atrocious, right? And then you come to play Pragmata and the demo definitely helped out life. But you come to play Pragmata

and realize that it works so well and it scratches a certain itch for gamers who enjoy thinking, right? It may sound crazy, but you'd be surprised. Pragmata definitely rewards gamers who are good at compartmentalizing certain things and multitasking, right? So it definitely scratches a certain itch in gamers' brains who enjoy that type of gameplay loop,

especially like chess, turn-based type gamers. So when it comes to control resonant from a visual aspect, I think it's doing the same thing as far as scratching a certain itch from heavy art direction type of gamers who really enjoy when a director takes them on an adventure that they've never seen before. I think Control Resonant does exactly that. So anyways, transitioning from that into the review roundups of this particular game, of course, we have to start with IGN as IGN gave it an 8 out of 10 basically saying,

quote, even when combat's sharp edge eventually doles, Control Resonant is a great addition to the Remedyverse. That's what they're calling it now in the world. While its story follows a more standard framework, work as gravitational pool is in the inventive world built around it in a human humanization one of the world humanization oh it is humanization man i need help like come on bro yeah that's on me i'm keeping that in there too uh and the humanization i kid you know i'm keeping that in there y'all get to hear my mishaps man i kid you now i do one take man one take i kid you

Anyways, humanization that grounds the paranormal intrigue. There we go. Yes, sir, boy. You know what I'm saying? Professional Podcasts by the way. All right, anyways, IG gave it a. That's him. Okay, so Eurogamer. Why's it playing pragmatic right now? Who's this?

I don't know. Why is it playing pragmatic? Am I tripping? Oh, it's because shout to skill up. I guess he wanted to, oh, I guess he's making the same comparison as me as far as scratching. that itch. Okay, yeah, here we go. Eurogamer gave it a three out of five, saying, quote, Control Resonant is a more action RPG-oriented follow-up to control,

but in leaving the oldest house, it also leaves behind some of what gave the original its magic. Okay, so it was the most positive review, but you know, hey, we'll read off all the review roundups. GameSpot gave Control Resonant a nine out of ten, saying, quote, control resident is remedies take on a semi open world character action game and that might sound like an experience you've had before but at the transdimensional intersection of this impeccable combat design and the studio's signature strangeness stands something unforgettable unique okay

and here of course we have VGC that gave it a 10 out of 10 wasn't aware of Goodness gracious. So VGC gave Control Resonant a perfect score saying, quote, Control Resonant gambles on a new genre and it pays off. A stellar cast

in some of the strongest art direction you'll find in the game this year makes for a sequel that builds on the promise of the original and delivers with even more special moments. Okay, let's do one more. And then PC gamer,

gave it a 76 out of 100, saying, quote, a welcome return to Remedy's magnificent hell escapes with too many hours of middling combat. Okay, well, I mean, that's definitely the spectrum as far as all the reviews. I kid you not. So as you can tell, most people are enjoying this game.

Some people say it's, you know, repetitive. But at the end of the day, I think when it comes to trying a game for yourself is a whole different experience than just watching something or yeah basically just watching something not having hands on time with it a completely different experience when you get hands on time with it which is why i always say when covering these games if i haven't played it is reviewing sales roundup but of course if i did play it i'll give my personal impressions but

control resident is the first game that made me want to step away from my gta marathon you know shameless plug i am doing the gta marathon right now playing every single gta hice until uh before gtta 6 comes out. You know what I mean? Don't ask where the tattoos came from. You know what I'm saying? Let's just say, you know, your boy just got a lot of tattoos. You feel me? My fault. There was AI. But anyway, so that being said, um, yeah, Control Resonant is the first game that made me want to step away from that

to actually play that. But, uh, safe to say, I am definitely in the GTA mind frame right now and playing everything GTA online related before GTA6 comes out. But Control Resonant is one of those games that you may want to play in the year of 2026 if you want to try out some of the top tier game directions this specific year. You know, one of the better narrative-focused games that have came out in the year of 2026. So with that being said, click my link to you in my bio to follow me on my social medias. And if you're on Spotify, make sure to comment down below with us being 10 months in to

the year of 26. What is your favorite game of the year?