Back in October 2025, former chief executive officer of Remedy Entertainment, Tero Virtala, stepped down from his role after nine years of running the company, following the financial failure of FBC Firebreak. A new CEO was appointed earlier this year in February, with former EA executive Jean-Charles Gaudechon stepping in. That specific element of his past has been a point of concern for fans who fear Gaudechon could be the undertaker of what makes Remedy special, but in a new interview with The Game Business, he claims he was chosen because he wants to do the exact opposite.
Gaudechon admits in the interview that he's aware of the bias towards those who spent any extended time at EA in an executive role, as someone who spent close to five years as part of the company's c-suite. He also previously worked at EVE Online studio Fenris Creations (formerly CCP Games) for four years, though its his EA history that has become a talking point.
"There's been a lot [of talk] about EA," Gaudechon says. "What does it mean to have someone that has spent time at EA? And I completely understand the fear of, 'is he going to bring methods that work for a massive company and crush the soul of a studio like Remedy?' But I think I got chosen because I know exactly what Remedy is. And what needs to be protected, needs to be supported and needs to be grown. Remedy is a one-of-a-kind. It's a studio that has amazing creative drive."
"It's a studio that has also been messy here or there, and that's the beauty of the type of games that were made and how. What I hope I can bring to Remedy is vision on where the company could go and where we could make some improvements. Who am I to change the DNA of a 30-year successful game studio?"
Gaudechon goes further to say that he "loved" how Remedy fans reacted to his appointment, because their caution and concern for him showed how much passion they had for the studio. The fact that so many people expressed a desire to "protect" Remedy cemented to Gaudechon how Remedy is "one of the few studios which is genuinely supported by players." He also added that several of his industry friends and colleagues, even through their messages of support and congratulations on his appointment, stressed to him, "Don't f**k it up."
"Remedy is already one of the biggest game authors, with very strong signature products," Gaudechon continues. "Now after seeing it from the inside, there's so much more we can give in terms of super strong authored, creative, crazy stories and gameplay. Honestly, we haven't achieved half of the potential in terms of the products that we make."
That all sounds well and good, but the reality is that Gaudechon has only been in the job for a matter of months at the time of this writing. It's great that he claims to understand what makes Remedy special, but concerns for him likely won't die down until there's some definitive action around his words. One element that does appear positive, though, for fans concerned that Remedy is about to take on EA-level tactics, is that Gaudechon made it clear not to expect a free-to-play pivot from the studio.
"Remedy will be defined even more by the stuff we don't do, over the things that we keep doing," Gaudechon says. "The things we shouldn't do is a free-to-play mobile game. This is not something that makes sense for Remedy today, and it may never make sense. It's more about building on our core IPs. If, as an example, Sam [Lake, creative director] comes to me and says, 'Hey, I've got a super cool idea around Alan Wake. We could do this on mobile.' Then cool, we'll speak about it. Because that actually builds on one of our core IPs and strengths, and we're not just trying to go after a market segment."
"That doesn't make sense. You don't try to go after business and turn that back into making a game. That's never worked."
Gaudechon also, for good measure, shares his thoughts on Generative AI (GenAI) in the game making progress, and clearly says his "stance is that AI is not going to make things cheaper, and it's not going to make things cheaper for a pretty long time," before adding, "Good luck trying to do Alan Wake 2 with AI. Try to use Genie and do that, and we'll see where you land."
He does add that he won't stop people from experimenting with the technology, but it's clear that Gaudechon is at best cautious about what GenAI tech can do for Remedy, and says that any GenAI experimentation would never get "anywhere close to creative and anywhere close to user-facing."
For anyone who has been concerned about Remedy's future, this is all very positive to hear, but again, they are still just words for now. The real test will be when Control Resonant arrives, and how Gaudechon responds if the game is yet another long-tailed Remedy release that sells well over an extended period of time, but fails to capitalize on a massive launch. It's worth noting that elsewhere in the interview, he called out both Control and Alan Wake as franchises that should be selling more.
His response to whether Control Resonant is a hit at launch will be a real marker of how Gaudechon wants to run Remedy for the future. Hopefully, it's one that fans can get on board with.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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