Remedy's goal is "entertaining the largest possible audience with the best games", and in a GDC Europe keynote, director Matias Myllyrinne eloquently described the studio's development values, with pointed criticisms of "me-too multiplayer" and generic naming for today's games.
Outlining the 45-person studio's background, Myllyrinne admitted that the developer takes a long time on many of its games. The first Max Payne took four years, though its sequel only took 18 months. In addition, Xbox 360 title Alan Wake was signed with Microsoft in 2005, and the game will debut in Spring 2010.
But the Espoo, Finland-based developer said that retaining a culture of quality over quantity is one of the reasons for its long development cycles. This is also important for differentiating from generic "me-too" AAA games, which the Remedy executive condemned.