How a Finnish studio turned brutalist architecture into a global supernatural hit
Remedy Entertainment broke from its linear past to create Control, a non-linear action game set in a shifting, paranormal skyscraper. By blending mundane office bureaucracy with the eerie new weird genre, the developers built a world where everyday objects—like refrigerators—become dangerous, reality-bending weapons in a fight against an otherworldly entity.
Released in 2019, Control was a strategic pivot for Remedy Entertainment. Following their 2017 IPO and separation from Microsoft, the studio sought to reduce development costs and time. They completed the game in just three years on a €30 million budget, a lean figure compared to typical triple-A productions. To achieve this, the team prioritized efficient development strategies and utilized their proprietary Northlight Engine, which was among the first to fully implement Nvidia RTX real-time ray tracing.
The game’s setting, the Oldest House, is a masterclass in environmental design. Drawing inspiration from brutalist landmarks like 33 Thomas Street in New York City and Boston City Hall, the developers used the style’s heavy, concrete aesthetic to create a sense of power and stability. This served as a perfect canvas for the game’s destructible environments, allowing players to use telekinesis to rip apart walls and hurl debris at enemies. The architecture itself is a character, shifting and rearranging in defiance of physics, housing the Federal Bureau of Control, a clandestine agency tasked with containing paranatural phenomena.
Control’s gameplay design was a direct response to the studio's previous title, Quantum Break. Seeking to avoid the limitations of a strictly linear narrative, director Mikael Kasurinen adopted a Metroidvania format that encourages exploration and player agency. By removing waypoints and minimizing the head-up display, the developers forced players to engage deeply with the environment. This design philosophy extended to the combat, where players must strategically alternate between the shapeshifting Service Weapon and psychokinetic abilities like 'Launch' and 'Levitate'.
The narrative draws heavily from the fictional SCP Foundation, focusing on the collision between the mundane and the strange. Rather than traditional character-driven storytelling, the game emphasizes world-building through environmental clues, documents, and audio logs. This approach, inspired by Dark Souls, leaves many mysteries open for interpretation. By March 2026, the game had sold over 6 million units, proving that a focus on atmosphere and non-linear discovery could resonate with a massive audience.
Source: Control (video game)
