Remedy has "great" ideas for Alan Wake 2

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 9 August, 2010

Would be a MS exclusive, confirms dev.

A sequel to Alan Wake would be Microsoft-exclusive despite developer Remedy owning the intellectual property and controlling its destiny.

"With Microsoft Game Studios it's Xbox exclusive, or it's Xbox and PC," franchise development head Oskari Häkkinen told Eurogamer in an exclusive interview.

"Please don't put that Alan Wake 2 is going to come out on PC, because that might not be true! Either is a possibility."

Remedy said Alan Wake will remain a Microsoft exclusive because it fits in with the US company's portfolio of first-party games.

"Microsoft put a lot of beef behind the title for it to be an exclusive for the 360. They feel it's an important title for their portfolio. It fits into their portfolio among other games like Gears of War, Halo and Forza.

"They think of their first-party games as a package and a portfolio for the 360. My understanding is we have a great fit in that portfolio as well."

Remedy is yet to talk to Microsoft about creating Alan Wake 2, but wants to do so, the Finnish developer told Eurogamer.

"For both our publisher Microsoft and for Remedy, we're still in a launch phase," Häkkinen said.

"The game just came out. We are still monitoring the main game."

Alan Wake released for the Xbox 360 in May after five years of development.

Eurogamer awarded the game 7/10.

Downloadable episode The Signal was released last week, and The Writer is planned for the autumn.

"We're working hard on the DLC," Häkkinen said.

"We're working full steam ahead here. We're a team of around about 50 people. We've still got plenty to do.

"Being in this launch phase at the moment, we haven't had a chance to get out to Redmond, Microsoft Game Studios, and discuss anything further of how we move on. But I don't see any reason why we wouldn't continue with Microsoft with a full-blown sequel for Alan Wake.

"We definitely want to do it. We have great ideas for it.

"There's certainly a want, and that want is I believe from both sides. Right now I can't confirm anything."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (37) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • AnsemsApprentice #1 2 years ago

    Make it open world this time, it doesn't have to be huge, just make it open because that is why Alan Wake was disappointing whilst still being a good game. I'd much rather run around Bright Falls doing small favours for the locals at my own pace, like checking out an old ladies attic or something. I know that all sounded sexual but you know what I mean...

  • NimbusTLD #2 2 years ago

    Microsoft could have marketed the original a bit more I think... Just picked it up recently and it's a lot better than I was led to believe by the specialist press. It might be repetitive and linear, but it just feels right, and the story is compelling me further in.

  • LOLLERS #3 2 years ago

    yep, most disappointing part was it's non-openworld linearity.

    er, that sounds really sarcastic, but it wasn't meant to be!
    Edited by 1 at 09/08/10 @ 14:11

  • Eraysor #4 2 years ago

    Interesting that Remedy are saying all this but not Microsoft..."Oh yeah, Microsoft love the game, they think it's a perfect fit, they really like it, we promise they did, honest..."

    I really liked the game though, I just don't think it did anywhere near as well as they expected.

  • bodypopper #5 2 years ago

    Horror games work better scripted rather than open world. Alan Wake 2 though needs tighter script writing. AW1 is too much of a transatlantic mish mash.

  • AnsemsApprentice #6 2 years ago

    I just want to discover things for myself whenever I want. There is a lot more pondering going on when you are on your lonesome, checking out a cave or something in your own time, because you wanted to, not because the poltergeist Ford Mondeo told you to. It felt like my hand was being held the whole way through, nothing really made me think "Wtf?" except the Tom the Diver sections which were awesomely weird. Maybe not fully open world, but I want to EXPLORE Bright Falls, we barely scratched the surface.
    Edited by 1 at 09/08/10 @ 14:22

  • muscleblade #7 2 years ago

    Im tired of open world games. I loved Alan Wake just the way it was. One of my favourite games this year.

  • n00bzceam #8 2 years ago

    I too hope thay stay away from the open world gameplay. Alan Wake was fun and very well done imo. I'll buy the next one if they keep the game story driven.

  • Quixz #9 2 years ago

    The only problem i had with Alan Wake was the it was Sub HD. The game it self is easily the second best game i have played this year after Mass Effect 2!

  • Skorms-Boss #10 2 years ago

    glad to see it's not coming to the PS3

    worst game I've played this year!

    (go on, start hating me, I don't care!)

  • Seehuusen #11 2 years ago

    Skorms boss, you really sound like a PS3 fanboy that likes spamming....

    Im glad i got both consoles so i can get the best of both of them. I just started chapter 5 in AW and i think it's brilliant so far...openworld would screw it up.

  • StooMonster #12 2 years ago

    I didn't mind the non-openworld linearity that much, it was the uncanny valley faces and body animations that looked like ancient tech that was disappointing for me.

    Better faces and animation in Alan Wake 2 please.

  • Collymilad #13 2 years ago

    It doesn't need to be open world.

    They are getting tiring, especially considering devs usually just end up being constrained to stretching the same content over more ground, resulting in an empty and/or boring open world. It's just pointless for the sake of it.

    I reckon AW struck the balance between being linear whilst feeling quite open (there was plenty of room to explore) pretty damn well.

  • muscleblade #14 2 years ago

    "(go on, start hating me, I don't care!) "

    I dont think people will hate you, just feel sorry for you.

  • Old_Books #15 2 years ago

    I hope one of those great ideas is to give Mr A Wake more stamina than an asthmatic 90-year old. The way he used to run for about 2 yards and then start swaying around as if near death cheesed me off no end.

  • Skorms-Boss #16 2 years ago

    Seehuusen
    I'm not a PS3 fan boy, I only got a PS3 a few months ago, I've had a 360 since they came out!
    I'm not spamming, I'm saying what I think, I didn't like Alan Wake, I thought it was a poor game with a lousy story line

    muscleblade why should people feel sorry for me, because I won't lie and say a cr@p game was good?
    My opinion, and I'm intitled to it!
    Edited by 1 at 09/08/10 @ 15:01

  • AnsemsApprentice #17 2 years ago

    I don't want it open world on the level of GTA, I just want to explore Bright Falls during the day, and then at night you do all of the story. You could use the clicker at will to switch between them. The whole game felt like a ghost train ride to me. Oh look a page, batteries, SCRIPTED EVENT, cutscene, next time on Alan Wake. Boring, repetitive, and veering off in the wrong direction only to find a coffee thermos is not exploration enough for me. It's still a great game, but it wasn't the one that made me gasp back in 2005.
    Edited by 2 at 09/08/10 @ 15:06

  • AnsemsApprentice #18 2 years ago

    I just remembered Agent Cooper loved Coffee, that's what the thermoses meant! For the record, I didn't like Red Dead Redemption because it was boring and repetitive, and that was BECAUSE it was an open world game. I agree most of the time, they just draw out the story by expanding how much nothing you have to run across to get to something, but what I am suggesting with Alan Wake 2, if it happens, is to make a really small town open world. Turn it from a cubicled office, into an open plan one, that's all.
    Edited by 2 at 09/08/10 @ 15:24

  • Collymilad #19 2 years ago

    skorms you are a fanboy.

    If you didn't like the game, you wouldn't have to buy it for PS3 if it did come out. So it really doesn't affect you yet you made your fanboy comment anyway.

  • JensonJet #20 2 years ago

    "Remedy has "great" ideas for Alan Wake 2"

    ...so have I, but it probably wouldn't be popular with fans of the game!

  • Progguitarist #21 2 years ago

    Great ideas eh? Maybe they can think up more than 2 enemy types this time?

  • triple_a #22 2 years ago

    of course they have "great ideas", because their jobs are on the line. If they don't get to do Alan Wake 2 they need to think of something fast and also find a publisher to pay for the development. Alan Wake wasn't even nearly as succesful as Max Payne 1 and 2, which means Remedy isn't as hot now as back then.

    I do hope this turns out in a good way for them, they are the last big games dev here in Finland (we do have many brilliant smaller devs).

  • TadejVig #23 2 years ago

    Meh. I am not getting xbox just for this game, that is what Microsoft is trying to do with his 3 exclusives (Halo, Gears of War and Alan Wake), but that's more or less the only exclusives it has, and I don't think that I am the only one that think buying that buying xbox for those games is useless. Well, it would break anyway. So. Meh.

  • AC!D #24 2 years ago

    A great game and its a pity it hasnt sold well. The Xbox 360 just doesnt have the community for these kinds of games. At the very least MS could let them port this to PC.

  • Rodchenko #25 2 years ago

    I liked it but I am with Ansems. A bit less handholding and a bit more the opportunity to explore the environment at your own pace would be great. Less combat please, and more weird stuff like the moment in the back of the coffee shop in the beginning. I'd also like to meet a few more inhabitants rather than fight the same two dudes over and over again. And fix the driving please. And give Alan a bit more stamina, for crying out loud. And maybe explain why these people are taken (RE4 did a great job in that at the very end)..

  • PoundHound #26 2 years ago

    I thought there was plenty of opportunity to explore. There was the odd shoehorn bit, but generally you could take your time and look about what was a reasonably sized environment, which I thought was pretty much perfect for the type of game it was. I think I'd be put off buying AW2 if it was free roaming. As others have said (and I'm glad to hear it), free roaming can be and often is, boring.

  • captain-future #27 2 years ago

    like make it more fun?

  • spekkeh #28 2 years ago

    Still busy playing the game (it was only 21 euros at thehut.com, so couldnt think of any excuse not to buy it), therefore please no spoilers, but I can relate to many of the sentiments here. I really like the atmosphere, and the loopy characters and things happening, but I wish they'd stuck their heads out more. It feels too much like a game game for what it's trying to accomplish, i.e. way too much shooting, collecting stuff, the scattered pages.

    Some more exploring (not open world per se), playing with a metanarrative in the gameplay, instead of via the pages and expositions, etc.

    If they pull that off in Alan Wake 2, it might well be one of the best games ever. Well, that and fix the facial animations because my god, sometimes I'm not sure if it's Alan Wake or the Thunderbirds. The six year old game Half-Life 2 was much better than this.

  • Kaminari #29 2 years ago

    "Remedy said Alan Wake will remain a Microsoft exclusive because it fits in with the US company's portfolio of first-party games."

    As it was brilliantly demonstrated by the stellar sale numbers of AW1 on the 360.

    Remedy might very well be an independant second-party developer, the *only* reason why Alan Wake remains a MS exclusivity is precisely because it's a MS IP. That's how it works between publishers & second-party studios.

  • SHPanda #30 2 years ago

    I enjoyed the story, I enjoyed the town levels and more built up stuff, but the reliance on running through the forest every level was repetitive and dull.

    I'll be honest though, I absolutely loved The Signal, if they can do more levels like that I'll be happy, the variety and design was great, particularly the section with the streetlights and telegraph poles.

  • spudsbuckley #31 2 years ago

    Open world doesn't automatically mean good.

    I thought the first game was brilliant but there won't be a sequel.

  • Nephirion #32 2 years ago

    Akimbo Flashlights?

  • ukgamer #33 2 years ago

    I think they should go multiplat with AW. I mean ~700k sold is crap. All other exclusives that had similar numbers also went multi.

  • teh_MBK #34 2 years ago

    AC!D: "A great game and its a pity it hasnt sold well. The Xbox 360 just doesnt have the community for these kinds of games. At the very least MS could let them port this to PC."

    Yea, but everyone knows that PC gamers like myself need M$ to tell them that they shouldn't play their games cause u need to be a couch in front of a TV. We just can't make that decision ourselves.

    Kinda surprised this article is in the PC section at all. Unless we see an AW1 port in the next few months, there is no way AW2 is coming to PC. If it does, I can't see it selling well unless those who own 360 and PC decide it'll be better up close to the screen where you can get really immersed. But then they would be wrong.

    Oh yea, them grapes are sour ;o).

  • hiruu #35 2 years ago

    Not unexpected...M$ funded the first project, and while Remedy is an independent company, they have been treated very well by M$...regardless of the nonsense propaganda some mongers love to spread.

  • hahayou #36 2 years ago

    @bodypopper
    You should play Stalker. CoP was the scariest game I've played in a long while.

  • Quixz #37 2 years ago

    Lol getting negs because i like the game?