Remedy Entertainment CEO Tero Virtala has stepped down from his position at the Alan Wake studio with immediate effect.
Virtala has been CEO since August 2016, but will now be succeeded by Markus Mäki in the interim until a new CEO is chosen. Mäki has been a company board member since 1995, acting as Chairman of the Board until now.
While Remedy’s announcement doesn’t indicate a reason for Virtala’s departure, it does follow a profit warning to investors two weeks ago “due to weak sales of FBC: Firebreak“.
The Control spin-off live-service game has not reached the studio’s internal targets “despite improved player and sales metrics” after recent updates.
Back in August, Remedy said it was “unsatisfied” with sales of FBC: Firebreak, particularly due to its underperformance on Steam.
“FBC: Firebreak was designed as a game that evolves over time,” said Virtala at the time. “Despite the rocky launch, we believe we have a solid game to build on. Players who spent over an hour with the game reviewed the game mostly positive – showing us that the core experience of the game is entertaining.”
Virtala will continue at Remedy in a transitional capacity.
“I want to thank Tero Virtala for his substantial contribution to the management of Remedy since 2016. I personally thank Tero for good cooperation and wish him all the best for the future,” said Mäki
FBC: Firebreak is the company’s first online multiplayer game, following its celebrated single-player games.
In August, Remedy confirmed Control 2 development is “on track”, while the Max Payne 1 & 2 remake project is also in full production.
Alan Wake 2, meanwhile, finally became profitable a year after its release.