Earlier this week, Remedy and Epic Publishing announced Alan Wake Remastered is coming to PC and consoles on the 5th of October. This release marks a new milestone in a franchise that has been dormant for years. Alan Wake was originally released on the Xbox 360 back in 2010. The game has followed up with DLC and a spin-off game, but a proper sequel remained absent.
Not without reason. While Remedy has always been clear about their intentions to create a sequel, the sales figures of the first game did not encourage their publishing partner (at the time, Microsoft) to cough up the much-needed cash. Remedy went as far as to create a playable demo that visualized many of the innovations the studio wanted to incorporate in the sequel. Unfortunately, that sequel did not get made.
An epic new partner
In the years that followed, Remedy moved on to new projects. These videogames all contained easter eggs that hinted at a possible return of our beloved writer. In the meanwhile, Alan Wake had grown to become a cult classic. The game managed to resonate with more and more gamers around the globe. Many of them infamously asked the studio if a sequel would ever see the light of day, only to leave disappointed when their question got answered. “When the time is right.”, the studio said. But demand for a sequel kept growing.
Meanwhile, something interesting was happening behind the curtains. Remedy regained the publishing rights of Alan Wake from Microsoft and found a new partner in Epic. When the two announced their partnership, they revealed Remedy and Epic were working on two projects that would take place in the same universe. It is now confirmed the Alan Wake remaster is one of the said projects. But what could the other project be?
When Remedy announced the Remedy Connected Universe, things started to click into place. What if Epic would enable Remedy to develop a sequel? Perhaps Alan Wake could live on through their other games too? By allowing their games to all occur in the same universe, characters and stories could be interlinked. Alan Wake’s story could continue forward! And when Alan Wake became a part of Control, it did. The Alan Wake-themed DLC for Control closed on a huge cliffhanger. Spoiler alert: Alan is convinced he finally found a way out of The Dark Place.
Re-emerging from the dark
If the two Epic projects take place in the same universe, there’s one clear caveat. The second Epic project could very well be a game of its own that would take place in this universe. But I don’t think so. When Alan Wake launched in 2010 it did so exclusively on Xbox 360. On the very same day, Red Dead Redemption got released. Remedy’s game had to battle a giant that enjoyed a multiplatform release with a far bigger marketing budget. By remastering a game you’re not only preserving but also introducing the experience to a whole new audience. An audience that missed out on this great gem due to platform restraints and because it was delved under the snow by Red Dead. What I’m saying is, all signs are leading to Epic and Remedy setting the stage for a sequel! Could that second project possibly be Alan Wake 2?
The coming remaster could very well function as the next step in re-invigorating the Alan Wake franchise. Let’s not forget, Remedy is also still working on bringing Alan Wake to TV. The franchise is bigger now than it was all those years ago. Remedy repeated time after time it would wait for the right moment, for various things to click into place, to make a sequel. Well, maybe that moment is right now.
