References to the Remedy Connected Universe

This page lists the references found in Control to the other games in the Remedy Connected Universe.

Although at this time, officially only the Control and Alan Wake franchises are part of RCU primarily due to rights issues, other Remedy games may unofficially be considered part of Remedy's multiverse, in spirit if not in fact.

Death Rally (1996)[]

Expansion 2: AWE

Alan Wake closes one of his visions with "It's happening again. You have been warned." "You have been warned" was a phrase used by True Tom Rhymer in Death Rally.

Max Payne (2001)[]

Max Payne and Max Payne 2 (2003) are owned by Rockstar Games, and thus are not, strictly speaking, part of the Remedyverse.

Control

According to the panels within, the Sector Elevator is from "Paine Elevators." Nearby text indicates a "Max Weight."
- There is a real-world Payne Industries Company that sells elevators.
Cigarette machine in, e.g., the lobby of the Oceanview Motel contain "Payne" brand cigarettes, whose logo is a "smoking gun" -- literally a gun with a cigarette coming out of its barrel. The cigarettes are "Hardboiled" flavor.
One of Dylan Faden's dreams, he mentions "in one world, there was a writer who wrote a story about a cop. In another world, the cop was real." While we discover in Casey Inquiry and Alan Wake II that Alan subconsciously based his cop character Alex Casey on a real FBI agent by the same name, Dylan specifically mentions the two living in different realities, which could indicate Max Payne as the "real" version of Alex Casey.
The Pink Flamingo Altered Item is likely a reference to the backwards-speaking Pink Flamingo who serves the evil John Mirra in Address Unknown, a supernatural detective story that plays on televisions in Max Payne.

Alan Wake (2010)[]

This entry also applies to the This House of Dreams ARG blog (2012), and Alan Wake: American Nightmare (2012)

Control

Lab 1 in Central Research contains a recording of "My Dark Disquiet" by the band Poets of the Fall, the real-world band that performs as the Old Gods of Asgard.
In the Night Springs Screenplay Pg. 1 through Pg. 4 collectibles, we learn that Alan Wake wrote an (unproduced) episode of Night Springs about the "Federal Bureau of Night Springs" whose events parallel the invasion of the Hiss.
In Television Proposal, we learn that the FBC has purchased cult television anthology Night Springs, and is planning a reboot.
In the Research Sector, in the office down the stairs and to the right from the sector elevator, a whiteboard can be found describing a shoebox found in Ordinary filled with documents pertaining to Thomas Zane (events recounted in the "This House of Dreams" blog, released alongside Alan Wake: American Nightmare. The FBC discovers that the contents of the shoebox resist alteration in an AWE. They then discover the shoebox is not an Altered Item, as the effect seems to persist in any shoebox. This expands on the Zane's Shoebox manuscript page from Alan Wake.
A hidden section on the fifth floor of the Panopticon contains AI73-UE, a thermos from the Oh Deer Diner, and AI83-KE, a Typewritten Page from an unfinished Alan Wake manuscript.
An Album Cover can be found in the Ordinary Dump; it's the cover to the Old Gods of Asgard album "Rebirth: Greatest Hits."
Ahti gives Jesse his Walkman, which he claims is a gift from "his friends." The Walkman contains the song Take Control from the Old Gods of Asgard, presumably meaning he knows Tor and Odin.

Expansion 2: AWE

The entirety of the AWE expansion is an extended reference to Alan Wake.
During AWE, in addition to more obvious solutions like flashlights or flares, Frederick Langston mentions the possibility of Jesse wrapping herself in Christmas lights as a way to stave off the Shadow, a reference to Barry Wheeler, who wears Christmas lights during Episode 5 of Alan Wake.

For information about Alan Wake's references to Control, see this page on the Alan Wake Wiki.

Quantum Break (2016)[]

Quantum Break is owned by Microsoft, and thus is not, strictly speaking, part of the Remedyverse. Remedy has made attempts to retrieve the rights, but have thus far been rebuffed.

Control

Cigarette machines in, e.g., the lobby of the Oceanview Motel, contain two flavors of "Jack's Choice" Riverport brand cigarettes, a nod to Quantum Break's protagonist Jack Joyce, and the setting of the game, the city of Riverport.
One of the surveillance photos of Jesse in the P7 room shows Jesse speaking to someone in a diner, seen only from behind. The clothing seems to match that of Beth Wilder in her "Toto" garb. Both characters were portrayed by Courtney Hope.
When confronting esseJ, esseJ says (in reverse speech) "I'm much wilder than you," a reference to Beth Wilder.
The Synchronicity Lab has a room with six Newton's cradles, each with a single yellow-colored ball on the end. This appears to be the same model of cradle used by Monarch Solutions, on Gull Island in Act 3, Part 1: they have a stutter-protected room in which five cradles are freely swinging during a time stutter.

Expansion 2: AWE

Frederick Langston mentions some experimental music he's doing (q.v. Langston: Freestyle and Langston: Me and You) which he calls "My Bleeding Clock meets Sylvia Plath." My Bleeding Clock is an emo band that Jack Joyce once belonged to, represented by real-world Finnish band Make-Out Motel.

Alan Wake II (2023)[]

Control

When Ahti goes on vacation, we are shown a picture of his destination, repeated later on a postcard. The postcard advertises the destination as "America's Little Finland," the town of Watery, WA. Watery is located near Bright Falls, and is visited frequently in the course of Alan Wake II. In fact, it's possible to find the cabin with the exact view from the postcard.
Dylan Faden talks about a "Mr. Door" who can open doors to different realities and exist in all of them. We meet and speak with him directly in Alan Wake II.

Expansion 2: AWE

The conclusion of the AWE expansion had an alarm going off in Bright Falls, except the date was a couple of years in the future.
- This may have been a twin reference to both the new events of Alan Wake II, and also to the release of Alan Wake Remastered, which came out in 2021: a "couple of years" from Control's 2019 release date.