by Game of Review Team · published 2026-09-27
So what is Control Resonant, exactly
Control Resonant is Remedy Entertainment's follow-up to 2019's Control, and this time you're not playing Jesse Faden. You're her brother, Dylan, and the setting has moved from the Oldest House to a warped, gravity-bending version of Manhattan that's on the brink of paranatural annihilation. It's still very much an action-adventure RPG, but Remedy has swapped the shape-shifting Service Weapon for something new called the Aberrant, a melee weapon that morphs between forms like hammers and dual blades depending on how you want to fight.
It released on September 24, and it connects back to the original game's lore while bringing in new threats, including the Hiss and something called the Mold. If you liked the first game's mix of bureaucratic horror and reality-bending combat, this is clearly built for you.
The numbers are the real story here
Within a day of launch, Control Resonant hit number one on Steam's US top sellers chart, edging out Total War: WARHAMMER III and Counter-Strike 2. It peaked at over 34,000 concurrent players on launch day, which is roughly 3.7 times the entire lifetime peak of the original Control Ultimate Edition. That's a big deal for a studio whose last release, FBC: Firebreak, topped out under 2,000 concurrent players.
Reviews are sitting at a strong "very positive" rating on Steam, so the launch numbers aren't just curiosity clicks fading fast.
A few things worth knowing before you buy
- It's priced at $59.99, with a Digital Deluxe edition at $69.99
- It's a single-player game with Steam Achievements, Trading Cards, and Cloud saves
- It supports 15 languages, with full audio in multiple options
- You don't strictly need to have played the original Control, but the story leans on its lore
Who it's for
If you enjoyed Control's blend of weird corporate horror and telekinetic combat, or you just want to see what Remedy does with a bigger budget and a new protagonist, this is an easy one to put on the radar.
Our take
Remedy has spent years being the studio critics love and mainstream audiences politely admire from a distance, so a launch that outsells Counter-Strike 2 for even a day is genuinely notable. The concurrent player numbers matter more than the review score here -- it suggests the built-in audience from Control and Alan Wake 2's crossover buzz is bigger than Remedy's own back catalog would suggest. Worth watching whether it holds a player base past the first week, since that's historically where Remedy's games have struggled to sustain momentum.
Games mentioned
CONTROL Resonant
$59.99 · 88% Steam