Why Remedy is glad it took 13 years to make Alan Wake 2 | VGC
After more than a decade struggling to get its sequel off the ground, the final result is a bold and ambitious horror game…
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With the rise of live service games during the 2010s, original publisher Microsoft wasn’t interested in Remedy’s pitch for an Alan Wake sequel, so the developer tweaked its ideas and came up with Xbox One exclusive Quantum Break (though it managed to sprinkle more than a few Alan Wake Easter Eggs throughout that title, including a live-action mock-trailer).
A second Alan Wake 2 pitch, involving FBI agents searching for the titular writer, evolved into 2018’s critically acclaimed action game Control, after Remedy received feedback that it didn’t feel like an Alan Wake title. That game also had strong links to Alan Wake, minting the ‘Remedy Connected Universe’ with solid narrative ties between the two, including Alan Wake-themed DLC.
With years of practice and multiple drafts under its belt, it’s unsurprising then that Alan Wake 2 – which is the result of part-funding from Epic Games – feels like the culmination of Remedy’s last decade of game development – an ambitious sequel that feels like it could be the boldest interpretation yet of the Remedy-style cinematic action game.
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Given how admirably Remedy has stuck to its roots creating strong, narrative-driven action games, perhaps even more surprising than the 13 years it’s taken for Alan Wake 2, is the fact that the developer hasn’t made a sequel at all for almost exactly 20 years (Max Payne 2 released for PC on October 14, 2003).
From left: Ilkka Villi (Alan Wake actor), Matthew Porretta (Alan Wake voice), Melanie Liburd (Saga), Sam Lake (creative director), Shawn Ashmore (Tim Breaker), Janina Gavankar (Agent Estevez)That’s certainly not been due to a lack of trying: Since it put its mark on the games industry with stylish cinematic shooter Max Payne in 2001, and then narrative thriller Alan Wake nine years later, the independent Finnish studio spent a decade trying to get Alan Wake 2 greenlit.
With the rise of live service games during the 2010s, original publisher Microsoft wasn’t interested in Remedy’s pitch for an Alan Wake sequel, so the developer tweaked its ideas and came up with Xbox One exclusive Quantum Break (though it managed to sprinkle more than a few Alan Wake Easter Eggs throughout that title, including a live-action mock-trailer).
A second Alan Wake 2 pitch, involving FBI agents searching for the titular writer, evolved into 2018’s critically acclaimed action game Control, after Remedy received feedback that it didn’t feel like an Alan Wake title. That game also had strong links to Alan Wake, minting the ‘Remedy Connected Universe’ with solid narrative ties between the two, including Alan Wake-themed DLC.
With years of practice and multiple drafts under its belt, it’s unsurprising then that Alan Wake 2 – which is the result of part-funding from Epic Games – feels like the culmination of Remedy’s last decade of game development – an ambitious sequel that feels like it could be the boldest interpretation yet of the Remedy-style cinematic action game.
THE SAGA CONTINUES
The original Alan Wake reportedly sold 3.1 million copies – a modest amount for a triple-A action game published by a platform holder. Two console generations later, one of the priorities for the sequel is understandably to cater for those who either didn’t play it, or whose memories have long since faded into the shadows. That means the introduction of a second character, with players able to hop between the two with relative freedom.HOW HAS REMEDY STUCK TO ITS SINGLE-PLAYER ROOTS FOR SO LONG?
Sam Lake: “To be fair, we have multiple projects in the making including some multiplayer. So, from a business perspective, there’s definitely a desire to find our own way of doing these kinds of games as well. But so far, we’ve been lucky and blessed to be allowed to create something like this.“A big thank you for Alan Wake being able to be so bold in pushing our ideas further than ever before does go to Epic Games Publishing, and [publishing boss] Hector Sanchez in particular when we were pitching this game for funding, because they have been a big part of funding even though Remedy has funded part of it.
“What makes it possible to do something like this is that Hector from the get-go understood what we wanted to make and was excited about it. So I’m happy. Hopefully Alan Wake 2 finds its audience and it’s big enough to make this venture profitable for all parties involved.”
