Remedy's Arhi Makkonen on designing the "biggest world we have ever done" for Control Resonant

GamesIndustry.biz details how Remedy is rebuilding Control Resonant around a far more open Manhattan, and senior level designer Arhi Makkonen says it’s the studio’s biggest world yet. That shift matters because the first Control was built almost entirely around interiors, ceilings, and tightly controlled sightlines; here, the team has to support vertical traversal, freer exploration, and a player who can move almost anywhere.

Makkonen says the design goal is to preserve freedom wherever possible, even when that makes guided sequences harder to stage. Remedy’s answer is subtle environmental direction: landmarks, strong color palettes, and zone-specific visual identity that help players orient themselves without forcing a single route. The team also leaned on heavy iteration and playtesting to make sure walkable surfaces, rooftops, and gravity-shift paths read clearly in play.

The sequel’s combat is changing just as much. Dylan Faden replaces Jesse as the lead, and Control Resonant is leaning into melee for the first time in Remedy’s history, with the Aberrant weapon shifting between forms like a hammer and blades. That combination of faster movement, gravity manipulation, and close-range combat creates obvious level-design and readability challenges, but it also gives the sequel a distinct feel from the original.

Control Resonant launches on September 24, seven years after the original Control. For developers, the useful takeaway is how much open-world readability still depends on disciplined art direction and layout, especially when traversal systems let players break...