Remedy Entertainment boss Sam Lake has addressed fans who were expecting a sequel to Alan Wake over their new IP Quantum Break at Microsoft’s Xbox One reveal conference yesterday.
“Ater the first game, we worked hard to make the sequel happen,” said Lake in a video message. “But you know, these games are huge undertakings and many things need to fall in place. The right partners and the right funding. From the creative perspective, it would be awesome if we could just create cool stuff and not worry about minor details like money. But we all know that that’s not the case.”
Lake continued, “When Alan Wake came out, it was not a huge hit on day one. It has been doing really well since then. It’s become a cult classic, which is really nice. The Alan Wake franchcise has moved more than three million since, which is a nice figure. But when the game was released, that was not the case immediately. And even though we worked hard on it, the sequel was not happening. The time wasn’t right for that.”
Lake added that the studio could have created something less ambitious, but that it wouldn’t have done justice to the fans, the team at Remedy, or the franchise.
“Wake is really dear to me and to everyone at Remedy. We knew from the beginning that when Wake wakes up in the dark place, that getting out from there is going to be a long, hellish journey and a hard struggle. And I guess that where we are now is fiction becoming reality. We definitely want to keep on working on Alan Wake. I definitely want to create something new for Alan Wake when the time is right.”
With Quantum Break, the studio is aimming to make its “ultimate” game.
“We always have many ideas in the works, and things that we are excited about,” said Lake. “And happily, we got a full backing for something new, a new concept, a new IP—something big, bigger than what we have ever created before. Something where we could take everything we have learned from Alan Wake, everything we’ve learned from Max Payne, and we were able to put that all together, and to create what could be called the ultimate Remedy Experience.”
To thank Alan Wake fans for their understanding, Remedy Entertainment has put together a package including Alan Wake, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, and bonus content like exclusive videos, never-before-seen comics, behind-the-scenes materials, screenplays, and more on Humble Bundle. If you haven’t used the service before, it’s ‘pay what you want.’ And for Xbox 360 owners, Remedy worked with Microsoft to create “awesome offers” for everything Alan Wake-related, including games, avatars, add-ons, available today.
Watch the full video message below.