Highlights

  • Alan Wake 2 was a major success, winning three awards at The Game Awards 2023: Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, and Best Game Direction.
  • The upcoming Night Springs DLC for Alan Wake 2 will likely focus on the character of Sheriff Tim Breaker, who has a strong connection to the Night Springs TV anthology series.
  • The DLC may involve Alan returning to rescue Tim and could be framed as another episode of Night Springs or feature Tim as the sole playable protagonist.

Warning: Spoilers for Alan Wake and Alan Wake 2Alan Wake 2 is Remedy Entertainment's latest title, released this past October after a 13-year-long wait following the original 2010 entry to wide acclaim. The first game was more of a cult classic, but Alan Wake 2 was a major success, winning three awards at The Game Awards 2023: Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, and Best Game Direction; and satisfying long-time fans along with grabbing the attention of many new ones. The journey of the eponymous author who finds himself drawn into an alternate dimension by an otherworldly monster, and must use his talents as a writer to escape, is one of the most complex narratives seen in the medium.

With an emphasis on survival horror design, Alan Wake 2 stood out in its gameplay and mind-bending tale. Just before the end of the year, Remedy put out Alan Wake 2's Final Draft mode update, which added fresh narrative elements as well as a new alternate ending. 2024 will see more content for AW2 in the form of two DLCs, with Night Springs the first set to release. Given how the story stands now, Night Springs is poised to go down some interesting paths in both familiar and new territory.

Night Springs currently has a "Spring" release window, but no firm date yet.

Alan Wake 2 Expect 2024
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What to Expect From Alan Wake 2 in 2024

Alan Wake 2 has more content planned for 2024, and fans can look forward to some major expansions in the coming year.

What Alan Wake 2's Night Springs DLC Could Be

Night Springs in the World of Alan Wake

A Twilight Zone-inspired TV anthology series, Night Springs first appeared in the original game as a set of collectibles. When found, players were shown a short episode in the supernatural vein of both its inspiration and the setting of the game, many of which paralleled events and themes of the plot. In the canon of Alan Wake, Alan got his start writing scripts for the show and thus has a link to it in-universe. Night Springs featured heavily in the 2012 spin-off, Alan Wake's American Nightmare, with the premise being Alan is trapped inside an episode of it and must follow certain plot details exactly to escape.

Night Springs returned in Alan Wake 2, albeit slightly differently, and there are only a few TVs to find that directly reference it. However, it's the character of Sheriff Tim Breaker who appeared to have the biggest connection to Night Springs and seems the most likely to feature prominently in the forthcoming DLC. While this is largely a theory, some numerous signs and clues point to it being the case.

Breaker is portrayed by Shawn Ashmore, who starred as Jack Joyce in Remedy's 2016 title Quantum Break .

Alan Wake 2's Night Springs DLC Possible Plot

After attempting to help Alan Wake 2's FBI Agent Saga Anderson in the real world, the Sheriff was seemingly drawn into the nightmare reality of the Dark Place by the monstrous Dark Presence. Alan runs across Tim at various points during his own attempts to navigate the shifting dream world. Tim looks to be putting together an investigation as to how he got there, and how to escape. If players listen carefully, Tim can be heard humming the Night Springs theme as well.

AW2's Final Draft ending definitively concluded Alan and Saga's story, showing them overcoming their dilemma with Alan becoming "a master of many worlds." Alan Wake 2's Sheriff Tim Breaker, though, is still ostensibly trapped. Given Alan's newfound mastery, perhaps he will return to rescue Tim. This could be either alongside him by making both playable protagonists similar to the main campaign or perhaps fans will take control solely of Tim, with Alan acting as a guiding force.

It could even be that the DLC is framed as another episode of Night Springs a la American Nightmare. In any case, Tim will likely be focused on, and fans can surely expect Remedy to move the story in some intriguing directions.