'One of the Very Few Games I'm Going to Be Buying': Control Resonant Has Leaked, But There's a Push Among Some Pirates to Pay For It Anyway

Video game pirates appear to be making a rare effort to pay for Control Resonant , in order to support its developer Remedy.

Control Resonant launched today for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S and, somewhat inevitably, cracked copies of the game are already circulating online. But among the threads pointing people to illegal copies, there appears to be a concerted effort among some video game fans to support Control Resonant's development team.

Remedy is well known as the maker of Max Payne, Alan Wake, Control, and Quantum Break, but its games often find relatively niche audiences. Fans of the studio love Remedy's offbeat stories and often dark humor, as well as its typically high quality bar. But its past few launches have struggled to sell, with Alan Wake 2 taking over a year to turn a profit, and new content for multiplayer experiment FBC: Firebreak ended in less than a year.

Control Resonant - June 2026 Screenshots

In response to fan uncertainty over Remedy's future, and a growing sense that the studio really needs Control Resonant to be a success, there are now numerous messages on game piracy forums and reddit from pirates suggesting they will make an exception for this game, and actually open up their wallet.

"One of the very few games I'm going to be buying, Remedy are on the brink of bankruptcy, this is their make or break title, I love their games and gotta do what I can to keep them afloat," wrote one fan.

"I wasn't planning to buy it but now I feel like I should," reads one reply. "I like Remedy. They do good games."

"Yeah same here," reads another response. "Remedy makes amazing games, that's a studio that deserve my money, and I hope they continue to make more games."

"I feel like this is one of the games which you shouldn't pirate if you can," reads a similar comment on a separate discussion thread. "Remedy makes unique, innovative games, they need this funding."

However, not everyone agreed. "That's great idea, but this is a piracy reddit," reads one response. "Agreed, I gotta eat so this is being pirated but they do deserve success," reads another.

Still, there's a presiding sense that of all the games to avoid pirating, Control Resonant stands out. "I mean if you're going to compensate the team outside of Steam for playing their game that's one thing, but pretending that because you need to eat gives you the right to steal a video game is ridiculous."

And, if you are in any doubt over whether the game is your cup of tea, IGN's Control Resonant review is here to answer that question for you. "Even when combat's sharp edge eventually dulls, Control Resonant is a great addition to the Remedyverse," we wrote, awarding the game an 8/10. "While its story follows a more standard framework, its gravitational pull is in the inventive world built around it and the humanization that grounds the paranatural intrigue."

In August, Jean-Charles Gaudechon, installed as CEO of Remedy in March, said Control Resonant had 1.5 million wishlists across PC and consoles, and was among the top three pre-ordered PlayStation games in the U.S., Germany, and Brazil.

"We position Control Resonant as a must-have day-one purchase while also building Control into a lasting franchise," Gaudechon said at the time . "In a competitive autumn window, we believe the distinctiveness and quality of the game will make it stand out. Control Resonant will be available across all major platforms from day one and is priced attractively for an AAA title. Combined with the release window becoming slightly less crowded since our original reveal, we remain confident in our positioning."

Other than Control Resonant, Remedy continues its lengthy development work on the Max Payne 1 & 2 remakes, which are still listed as in production. The company also has an unannounced "new project" which it said had reached "production readiness," without providing further detail. Is this early work on an Alan Wake 3, another Control game, or something brand new? We'll have to wait and see, though Remedy certainly doesn't sound like it's giving up on Alan just yet.

"We have two established own franchises, Control and Alan Wake, which are linked through the Remedy Connected Universe," Gaudechon concluded, looking to the future. "Remedy will self-publish upcoming games, in which Remedy owns the IP. Growing and expanding the two franchises will be a key part of our future. In addition, we work with a partner franchise Max Payne, originally created by Remedy."

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social