Tero Virtala, CEO of Remedy Entertianment, has stepped down from his position with immediate effect, in consultation with the company’s board of directors. Markus Mäki, one of the studio’s founders and current chairman of the board, becomes interim CEO, and board member Henri Österlund is to become the recent chairman.
Remedy’s interim CEO, Markus Mäki, said: “I want to thank Tero Virtalie for his important contribution to the management of Remedy since 2016. I personally thank Tero for the good cooperation and wish him all the best in the future.”
The leadership change occurs a few weeks later Remed has updated its financial outlookbehind FBC: Poor Firebreak results. After its release in June, the game immediately ran into problems, and Remedy worked to make major changes to its first live service title. This began on September 29, but despite introducing “improved player metrics and sales following the update, sales did not meet Remedy’s internal goals.” As a result, the company is left with a “non-cash impairment charge for capitalized development costs and allocated purchased publishing and distribution rights related to FBC: Firebreak.”
The studio’s Q3 2025 business review will be released on October 29 and will provide a broader picture of the studio’s growth efforts and future prospects.
Remedy enjoyed many highs during Virtala’s tenure as CEO, who joined the company just as it was looking for recent independence and momentum after a long period of working exclusively with Microsoft. This included an initial public offering to secure funding for the development of a multi-game studio, as well as early partnerships with 505 Games and Smilegate. This, in turn, resulted in the company’s major hit that was Control (and the easily forgotten dud that was CrossfireX), and the company gained momentum to gain recent partnerships and investments. A significant agreement with Epic Games brought Alan Wake Remastered and a neat and very well-received continuation of the horror game in Alan Wake 2. They also secured funds for Control 2 and bought the rights to the stand-alone game.
In the name of diversifying its portfolio, Remedy ventured into a multiplayer game with FBC: Firebreak, but the game underperformed, and along with slower sales of Alan Wake 2, which outside observers might have expected, its stock market status was somewhat tarnished. Since share prices almost reached €50 in 2021, they have fallen back to around €13.
To be clear, Remedy’s recent forecast is that revenues will still boost compared to last year, but operating profit from current development projects will be negative. The focus now is on continuing work on the Max Payne and Control 2 remakes, with more details on that expected to appear in next week’s business review.
Source: Remedy
