Welcome to a new year! 2020 is going to be an exciting year for Remedy fans. Rachel over at The Sudden Stop has written an excellent article called “What to look forward to in 2020“, which is but a preview of what Remedy has in store for us. Apart from the studio’s 25th anniversary later this summer, Alan Wake will turn ten on May 14. To celebrate the occasion, PayneReactor will temporarily depart from its usual ‘blood red’ color scheme to something more suitable to the world of Alan Wake: ‘night blue’.
Perhaps unbeknownst to many but prior to the launch of Alan Wake PayneReactor’s founder, Kristian Hollund, launched a sister site called ‘WakeReactor’. Using the same CMS written by Matt Lowden and the same look and feel as PayneReactor, the site adopted a blue color scheme in order to differentiate. The website’s main focus was to provide fans and visitors with all the latest about Alan Wake.
However, while Alan Wake was announced in 2005, it would take five more years for the game to hit store shelves. The lack of news to report, along with Hollund struggling to find the time and continued interest in the site, eventually lead to its demise. One could say, the change in color scheme today means we’re honoring the old days. Perhaps this is what WakeReactor would have looked like if it still existed today?
WakeReactor might have come and gone, PayneReactor is still alive and kicking today. Though, maintaining a website is no easy task. There’s a lot of technology involved to keep things running and every now and then things need updates or a check-up. Some updates are obvious, like WordPress, others are easily overlooked, like your server’s PHP version. PayneReactor was still running on an outdated PHP version which made it possible for someone with ill-intent to bring the site to its knees. A few weeks ago, someone did. For a period of 72 hours, the site was unreachable and I was completely locked out. With the help of my host, I eventually managed to access the systems. It took me a whole day to execute much-needed maintenance improving security, stability, and performance. I was awfully lucky that day, or PayneReactor might have been resting next to WakeReactor.
Fortunately, we’re still here, stronger than ever! Late last year we’ve asked our readers on Twitter what they would like to see PayneReactor do more of in the new year. You’ve clearly spoken: a better mobile experience, more content related to Max Payne and regular updates. Since 2020 is going to be an exciting year for games (with the launch of the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5) and Remedy fan alike, so let’s get to it!
