Game studio Remedy Entertainment has guaranteed to its investors that Alan Wake 2 will be releasing this year.
As reported by PSU, Remedy had this to say to investors in a quarterly earnings call:
“Alan Wake 2, a long-awaited sequel to the 2010 psychological thriller published by Epic Games, is in the full production stage. In 2022, the game was coming together on all fronts and will be ready for its highly anticipated launch in 2023.”
Alan Wake 2 is going to do a complete genre shift, although it is the continuation of the story from the first Alan Wake. Remedy revealed that they will make this a horror survival game, perhaps a serendipitous move as the genre is popular now with games such as Sons of the Forest.
Remedy definitely made that choice even before the first The Forest game was released, as they are already confirming their game’s imminent release. They had been planning on making the game since the release of the first Alan Wake game in 2010.
However, the studio went through trials and tribulations on the leadup to proper development, as they were dealing with low financing at the time, and they had given publishing rights to Microsoft as part of the deal to get the first game out.
In 2019, Remedy made a deal with Microsoft to buy the rights to Alan Wake back. This move opened up the opportunity for Remedy to make a sequel. They officially announced Alan Wake 2 as part of the 2021 The Game Awards.
Since then, Remedy has been drip feeding us information, though that has stepped up this year. It started with a tease for the game at the very first few days of 2023.
And then, in an interview last month, Remedy revealed their plans for a genre shift. Director Kyle Rowley described it as “Remedy’s take on the survival horror genre.”
Roslwey also talked about making it “an experience that was welcoming to all.” That may sound strange for a horror themed video game, but it makes sense for a studio that’s refined their game design through projects like Quantum Break and Control.
Alan Wake 2 is planned for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows via Epic Game Store. Yes, the game is not currently planned for Steam, and no, Remedy has not stated that Alan Wake 2 will be part of Game Pass.
