For a high profile game like Alan Wake, piracy is something of an inveitability, but Remedy Entertainment isn't too worried about. Instead, the developer hopes that those who steal the game will enjoy it enough to support the studio's future projects.
"Some people are going to pay for it and some people aren't," Remedy's head of franchise development Oskari Hakkinen told Eurogamer. "At the end of the day for us it's about entertaining as many people as possible. Of course we hope people will pay for it, but if they don't, at least enjoy the story. Maybe they'll get something else in the Alan Wake universe somewhere down the line."
In that regard, Hakkinen likens piracy to the fremium mobile that's become popular in the mobile and social markets.
"You get to pay Tiny Tower for the first 40 minutes and then it asks you, well, you can carry on grinding and building your burgers and selling fries by sending people up and down the lift, or you can pay. So they give you something for free and if you enjoy it after your 40 minutes maybe then you start investing in the game. If you want to play a little bit more maybe you just put in a pound and you can play some more.
"It's not the same, but maybe there's something in Alan Wake they enjoy and they didn't realise they were going to enjoy it. They grabbed it because they've just heard, it's okay, but not something they've sought after. They enjoy it and then they grab something else we make.
"You can't fight it, really. It's just the way it is. Of course I hope people go on Steam or get the retail copy. But if they don't, they don't. I'm not going to get a stomach ulcer from it. It's just the way it is."
The PC version of Alan Wake launched on Steam earlier today, with a boxed retail release to follow on March 2.
A downloadable sequel, Alan Wake's American Nightmare, hits the Xbox Live Arcade on February 22.
