Control Resonant Drops September 24, No Jesse

"Dylan is at the center of it all. He's the sole playable character this time, and that choice sets the tone for the sequel."

That line, buried in a PlayStation Blog post from co-creative director Mikael Kasurinen, is the detail that's going to divide the Control fanbase more than any release date ever could. During Sony's State of Play on June 2, Remedy Entertainment confirmed that Control Resonant launches September 24 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. Pre-orders are live now. But the bigger story here isn't when you'll play it. It's who you'll play as.

Jesse Faden, the protagonist who carried the original Control and became one of the most memorable leads in recent action game history, is not playable in Resonant. She's present in the story, Kasurinen confirmed, but her brother Dylan is the one moving things forward. Remedy has been "deliberately quiet" about Jesse's role, according to the blog post, because the studio wanted to flip the dynamic from the first game. Dylan was the antagonist, the corrupted brother trapped in a Hiss-induced coma. Now he's awake, Jesse is missing, and he's the one picking up the pieces.

I think this is a bold call. Jesse Faden was the reason a lot of people cared about Control in the first place. She had this dry, internal monologue energy that made the Oldest House's weirdness feel grounded. Swapping her out for the guy who spent most of the first game as a creepy voice on the other side of a glass wall is a risk. But Remedy has earned enough trust with me to see where this goes, especially after Kasurinen framed Dylan as someone who "has never been in control of his own life" and is now confronting who he actually is outside the FBC's containment.

Dylan's Burden

The new story trailer, shown during State of Play, fills in some of the gaps. Manhattan has been warped by paranatural forces, its architecture twisted and its streets overrun by entities born from a new form of resonance. Dylan is sent into the city by the FBC alongside a new ally, Zoe de Vera, and returning characters Simon Arish and Emily Pope. Dr. Casper Darling, the eccentric scientist who appeared in live-action clips throughout the first game, is also confirmed to return.

Combat still revolves around telekinetic abilities and a shapeshifting weapon, now called the Aberrant. Remedy has described Resonant as more of an action RPG than its predecessor, with an open-world structure set across a distorted version of New York City. That's a significant departure from the Metroidvania-ish layout of the Oldest House, and it'll be interesting to see whether the shift to open-world Manhattan retains the claustrophobic tension that made Control's environments so effective.

Kasurinen's press release quote leans hard into the thematic weight: "Once a test subject of the FBC, Dylan must now his evolving abilities, confront his past, and learn to trust others in a world he was never meant to be part of." Remedy has always been good at wrapping character drama around supernatural chaos, and Dylan's backstory gives them plenty of material. Whether players will connect with him the way they did with Jesse is the open question.

Pricing and Early Access

The standard edition runs $59.99 / £49.99 / €59.99 for both physical and digital. A SteelBook Edition at $69.99 adds fine art prints and a poster. The Digital Deluxe Edition, also $69.99, includes an outfit for Dylan, a starter resource bundle, a digital art book, and the original soundtrack. The PS5 Digital Deluxe Edition is the only version that includes 48 hours of early access, meaning PS5 Deluxe buyers can start playing September 22.

Remedy is self-publishing Resonant, which chief commercial officer Johannes Paloheimo highlighted as a point of pride. "Our global marketing efforts will be just as ambitious in its execution and style," he said, promising more events and opportunities for fans over the summer leading into launch. The game will also be Remedy's most localized title to date, with full audio in eight languages and subtitle support for an additional eight.

The September 24 window puts Resonant in direct competition with Silent Hill: Townfall, which shares the exact same launch day, and within striking distance of GTA 6. I wrote previously that Remedy's new CEO wasn't flinching at Rockstar's shadow, and this date confirms they're sticking to that stance. Whether that confidence is rewarded depends entirely on whether Dylan Faden can carry a game the way his sister did. A Mac version via Steam and the App Store will follow later in 2026, and the game launches with GeForce NOW support on day one.