Highlights

  • Alan Wake 2 has won Game of the Year at the Nordic Game Awards, maintaining its staying power with fans and earning critical acclaim.
  • Despite tough competition, the game stands out for its narrative, art direction, and performances.
  • While praised by fans, commercial success has been lacking, with Alan Wake 2 struggling to recoup its development costs.

Remedy Entertainment has yet another badge of critical recognition to add to its collection, as the company's 2023 survival horror game Alan Wake 2 just won a Game of the Year award at a recent event. Since its release, the Finnish developer's latest title has received widespread praise from reviewers and players alike. With the game continuing to get its flowers more than half a year after launch, it's evident that Alan Wake 2 has maintained a lot of staying power in the eyes of its fans.

Despite being released during one of gaming's busiest years in recent memory, Alan Wake 2 managed to stand out and make a name for itself among critics when it launched in October 2023. As a long-belated sequel to a former Xbox 360 exclusive, the game had a lot to live up to in order to not disappoint fans of the original cult classic. Fortunately, Alan Wake 2 exceeded the expectations of many gamers and ended up becoming one of the best games of 2023. Remedy Entertainment's latest release garnered nods in several categories from a plethora of awards ceremonies, including the BAFTAs, the DICE Awards, and The Game Awards 2023. It seems that accolades season for Alan Wake 2 isn't over just yet, though, as the title just received another major award at a recent showcase.

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At the recently-aired Nordic Game Awards show in Malmo, Sweden, Alan Wake 2 went home with three accolades. Not only did the title win Nordic Game of the Year, it also received the awards for Best Art and Best Audio. With how many accolades it won, Remedy Entertainment's critically-acclaimed game was, by and large, the star of the show. Given that the fellow Nordic-developed titles Bramble: The Mountain King, The Finals, Ikonei Island, Rytmos, and Cocoon only received one award each, Alan Wake 2's sweep at the showcase is all the more impressive.

This Game of the Year Award is Just The Latest Feather in Alan Wake 2's Cap

Given that it was released in the same year as hits like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Baldur's Gate 3, Alan Wake 2 had tough competition in the Game of the Year department. Even still, the title managed to win several awards for its narrative, art direction, writing, and lead performances at a handful of events. In addition, Alan Wake 2 surprisingly ended up tying with the aforementioned Baldur's Gate 3 by receiving the most nominations at The Game Awards 2023, a total of eight nods.

The immense praise the game has received from fans unfortunately hasn't translated into commercial success, however, as Alan Wake 2 is still struggling to make back its budget several months after release. In the US, the game didn't even rank in the top 150 games with the most active users in October 2023, and that's in spite of it selling 1.3 million copies. Hopefully, Remedy Entertainment will soon be able to recoup the costs of Alan Wake 2's development and continue to provide the experiences that its fans love without further financial woes.