Alan Wake II

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Alan Wake II
Alan Wake II logo.svg
Developer(s)Remedy Entertainment
Publisher(s)Epic Games Publishing
Director(s)
EngineNorthlight Engine
Platform(s)
Release2023
Genre(s)Survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player

Alan Wake II is an upcoming survival horror video game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Epic Games Publishing. A sequel to Alan Wake (2010), the game is set to be released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2023.

Development[]

Remedy Entertainment released Alan Wake in 2010. Remedy learnt from their lessons working on Max Payne and wrote Alan Wake in a way that allows additional story to be told through sequels and additional installments. The team quickly began to discuss sequel idea after Alan Wake was shipped. The sequel would continue to star Alan Wake as the protagonist, but it would also explore the stories of the supporting characters including Wake's friend Barry Wheeler and Sheriff Sarah Breaker. A prototype was created to show off the gameplay of Alan Wake 2 when the studio was showing the game to potential publishers. New enemies and new gameplay mechanics, such as being able to rewrite reality, was showcased in the prototype. Narratively, it will be a direct continuation of Alan Wake. Ultimately, Remedy pitched the project to Alan Wake publisher Microsoft Studios. Microsoft, however, at the time was not interested in a sequel and instead, tasked Remedy to create something new. This ultimately became Quantum Break, which was released in 2016. Most of the ideas for Alan Wake 2 were implemented in American Nightmare, a downloadable follow-up for the original Alan Wake game.[1]

When Quantum Break was announced, Sam Lake explained that a sequel to Alan Wake had been postponed, and that Alan Wake was not financially successful enough to receive the funding they needed to continue developing the sequel at the time.[2] Director of communications Thomas Puha stated in April 2019 that Remedy had briefly returned to work on an Alan Wake property about two years prior, but the effort did not work out, and the company is presently booked for the next few years, between their own new game Control, supporting Smilegate on its game CrossFire, and another new project. Puha said that the only limited factor for them to work on an Alan Wake sequel was "time, money, and resources".[3] Despite that, Lake continued to be part of a team in Remedy to brainstorm ideas and work on different incarnations for Alan Wake II. Internally, the project was codenamed "Project Big Fish", which represented its importance and signifiance to Remedy.[4] In the second downloadable content pack for Control, Remedy's next game following Quantum Break, Alan Wake was featured as a character. According to Remedy, Control established the "Remedy Connected Universe" which is shared by both Control and Alan Wake, and that the next game released by the studio will also be set on this universe.[5]

In July 2018, Remedy CEO Tero Virtala stated that any further sequels to Alan Wake would require Microsoft Studios' approval as the publishing rights holder, though Remedy otherwise owns all other IP rights to the series.[6] In July 2019, Remedy fully acquired the rights to Alan Wake from Microsoft, including a one-time royalty payment of about €2.5 million for the game series' past sales, which helped pave the way for a sequel.[7] In 2021, it was announced that Remedy had signed with Epic Games Publishing for the release of two games. Remedy released Alan Wake Remastered in October 2021 as the first game of this partnership,[8] while the triple-A game was revealed to be Alan Wake II when the game was officially announced at The Game Awards 2021.[9]

According to Sam Lake, the game will be powered by Remedy's own Northlight Engine, and will be a survival horror game as opposed to Alan Wake, which is an action game with horror elements. Lake further added that players will not need to play the previous games in order to understand Alan Wake II.[4] Remedy confirmed the game will remain in the third-person perspective despite the switch to survivor horror, and that both Ilkka Villi and Matthew Porretta will return to provide the appearance and the voice of Alan, respectively.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ Crecente, Brian (April 20, 2015). "Introducing the Alan Wake 2 you will never play". Polygon. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  2. ^ Narcisse, Evan (22 May 2013). "Alan Wake Creator Explains Why We Are Not Getting A Sequel". Kotaku. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  3. ^ McKeand, Kirk (4 April 2019). ""We were working on Alan Wake 2 years ago and it just didn't pan out" – Remedy". VG247. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  4. ^ a b Lake, Sam (December 9, 2021). "Alan Wake 2 announced for PS5". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  5. ^ Chalk, Andy (7 August 2020). "The next 'Remedy Connected Universe' game is already in development". PC Gamer. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  6. ^ Batchelor, James (July 16, 2018). "How Remedy is taking Control of its own destiny". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  7. ^ Phillips, Tom (1 July 2019). "Alan Wake developer Remedy regains publishing rights". Eurogamer. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  8. ^ Marks, Tom (September 10, 2021). "Alan Wake Remastered Release Date Announced". IGN. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  9. ^ McWhertor, Michael (December 9, 2021). "Alan Wake 2 revealed, will be Remedy's first survival horror game". Polygon. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  10. ^ Cryer, Hirun (December 14, 2021). "Alan Wake 2 is bringing back the third-person camera and lead actor Matthew Porretta". GamesRadar. Retrieved December 14, 2021.

External links[]

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