Highlights

  • Xbox players may need a mandatory update to play the physical release of Alan Wake 2, unlike PS5 users.
  • Remedy's latest horror title is its fastest-selling game, and will soon receive a physical release containing both the base game and the new Night Springs DLC.
  • Xbox users expressed disappointment at the suggested need for downloads, questioning Microsoft's commitment to game preservation.

Alan Wake 2 game director Kyle Rowley has suggested that the game's physical release on Xbox Series X/S may not come with the base game on disc and thus may require a mandatory update to play. This turns out to be an Xbox-specific disadvantage as the PS5 version of Alan Wake 2 apparently comes with all the necessary content on the disc.

Taking a quick look at the numerous award wins and nominations Alan Wake 2 bagged over the past several months, it won't be an overstatement to call it developer Remedy's magnum opus. Additionally, the survival horror title is also the Finnish company's fastest-selling game, with nearly one-and-a-half million units sold as of February. After posting remarkable sales figures as a digital-only release, Alan Wake 2 is now set to make the jump to physical, with disc versions for PS5 and Xbox Series consoles hitting the shelves later this year.

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When asked if Alan Wake 2's physical release on Xbox will contain the entire game and DLCs on disc, Kyle Rowley tweeted that the physical version comes with a single disc and "an update will be required" on Xbox. In another tweet about the PS5 version, he highlighted that the disc comes with the base game and the newly launched Night Springs DLC. Clearly, these statements imply that Xbox players may not get the entire base game on disc and may be required to download an update before playing, unlike their PS5 counterparts.

Remedy's FAQ section mentions that Alan Wake 2's physical version will have only one disc and require additional downloads on both PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. However, the discrepancy between Rowley's answers for the two physical versions hints that Xbox users may have to bear with a larger-sized download compared to PlayStation users.

Fans React to Alan Wake 2 Physical Release Limitation on Xbox

Rowley's statements have since sparked criticism from fans, with many of them expressing disappointment at the physical version for Xbox requiring a download before playing Alan Wake 2. A user wrote, "That would be really sad, as it misses the point of a physical copy." Another user said, "People care about having the game in its entirety physically." Some fans also singled out that the physical version's Xbox-specific restriction and Xbox's outspoken commitment to game preservation don't line up.

Interestingly, Alan Wake 2's physical release, despite the PS5 version containing the base game, doesn't appear to do enough for game preservation overall. That's because, even though the game's PS5 disc may not require a download before playing, Sony's consoles aren't the best when it comes to backwards-compatibility. For instance, the PS4 doesn't support any of its predecessors' physical games, whereas the PS5's backwards-compatibility only goes back one generation. On the flip side, both Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S are compatible with games all the way back to the original Xbox. With this in mind, the one platform where Alan Wake 2's physical release could have ensured long-term accessibility was Xbox, where the disc version doesn't even seem to contain the full base game.