iam8bit just dropped a new line of Federal Bureau of Control merch

Boutique merchandise retailer iam8bit has opened orders for a new line of apparel and accessories based on Remedy Entertainment's 2019 action game Control. The Control Resonant collection includes five items themed around the in-game Federal Bureau of Control.

The Federal Bureau of Control is the fictional government agency tasked with investigating paranormal phenomena in the Remedy Connected Universe. Their headquarters is a shifting brutalist skyscraper called the Oldest House. The new merchandise line leans heavily into that sterile corporate aesthetic.

Five items for the bureau

The lineup covers standard apparel and a few desk accessories. The FBC Hoodie is the most expensive piece at $59.99. It is also the only item in the collection that is currently in stock and ready to ship.

Everything else is listed as a preorder. The apparel side includes an FBC T-Shirt for $34.99 and an FBC Agent Hat for $32.99. Both items use the stark typography and minimalist logo of the fictional agency. It is the kind of merchandise that looks like standard corporate gear to anyone who hasn't played the game.

For your desk, there is an FBC Coffee Mug priced at $24.99. The design mimics the standard-issue mugs you find scattered across the desks of missing employees throughout the Oldest House.

The $9.99 mold mints

The strangest item in the catalog is a tin of FBC Mold Mints for $9.99. In the game, the Oldest House suffers from a localized infestation of an otherworldly mold that mutates the staff. The mints come in a collectible tin warning about the hazard. I assume the mints themselves are safe to consume and do not contain actual spores from the Threshold areas.

Control originally launched in 2019 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. It was a massive critical success for Remedy Entertainment. Players took on the role of Jesse Faden, who walks into the Oldest House looking for her brother and accidentally becomes the Director of the entire agency. The game combined intense third-person shooting with telekinetic powers. You could rip chunks of concrete out of the wall and hurl them at floating enemies. The physics engine made every office firefight a chaotic mess of shattered glass and splintered desks.

Remedy used the game's expansions to formally link its narrative with the Alan Wake franchise. The AWE expansion confirmed that the events of Alan Wake were an Altered World Event investigated by the bureau. The FBC later appeared in 2023's Alan Wake 2 to set up monitoring stations around Cauldron Lake.

Perfect timing for a replay

I think this is a great collection for Control fans. The designers captured the oppressive office vibe perfectly without making the clothes look like cheap promotional items.

The timing for the Control Resonant drop feels perfect. Remedy has spent the last few years expanding this universe. They have been actively working on Control 2 and the cooperative multiplayer spin-off FBC: Firebreak. We are going to be spending a lot more time with the Federal Bureau of Control in the near future.

If you want to grab any of the preorder items, iam8bit has not listed a specific shipping date yet. The hoodie is available to purchase right now.