Highlights
- The director of Alan Wake 2 discusses the long road to the sequel's release, revealing that previous Remedy Entertainment games started as Alan Wake 2 but changed during development.
- Development of Alan Wake 2 was delayed for a variety of reasons, but the team found the right opportunity when horror became popular around the release of Control.
- Creative director Sam Lake is enthusiastic about the game, and early previews have praised the visuals and the handling of the dual protagonists.
The director behind the upcoming Alan Wake 2 revealed the extensive road Remedy Entertainment took to get to the sequel. Alan Wake 2 is finally launching later in October, hot off the heels of similarly highly anticipated releases like Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Insomniac's Spider-Man 2. Alan Wake 2 is taking more inspiration from survival-horror games than the original, most notably Capcom's Resident Evil franchise.
Alan Wake 2 is launching over a decade after the original Alan Wake's release. When Alan Wake 2 was initially revealed at The Game Awards 2021, it came as a huge surprise considering how long it had been since the first game. The long road to Alan Wake 2's October release was recently discussed by some key members of the development team at Remedy Entertainment.
In an interview with MP1st, Alan Wake 2 director Kyle Rowley and narrative designer Molly Maloney were both asked why it took so long to get an Alan Wake sequel, with Rowley explaining that it's "complicated." According to Rowley, after the development of the original game, they really wanted to make a sequel, but it never panned out for a variety of reasons. Each game Remedy released post-Alan Wake had started development as Alan Wake 2, which includes Quantum Break and Control.
Rowley states that the foundations of Quantum Break and Control were ideas that the team wanted to implement into Alan Wake 2, but couldn't fit them into the game at the time. When horror was becoming popular around Control's development and release, that's when it allowed Remedy to explore the opportunity to make Alan Wake 2 happen.
Maloney chimed in with how creative director Sam Lake was excited about the game just as much as the other development team members. They also recounted how Lake considers the current version of the game the best version, and that the right ideas came at the right time for Alan Wake 2 for be made. Previews about the game have been quite positive, with many critics praising the visuals and handling of its dual protagonists of the titular Alan Wake and newcomer Saga Anderson.
Alan Wake 2 releases October 27, 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: MP1st
