Like a skipping record, the resurfacing mentioning that Alan Wake II is in development never gets old hearing. After a decade of waiting, a proper sequel is in development over at Remedy Entertainment. In an earlier statement from the Finnish game studio, it was confirmed that Alan Wake II was already in a fully playable state to meet its 2023 release window, CEO Tero Virtala shared.
Additionally, Alan Wake voice actor Matthew Porretta went onto share that Alan Wake II is expected to release later this October; very fitting. And by the time the PlayStation Showcase arrived in late May, it was confirmed that the game ships on October 17th. However, there is a caveat: there is only a digital version of the game. Remedy Entertainment for a couple weeks went without elaborating on the decision.
But according to Eurogamer who spoke with Remedy Entertainment in June has revealed that the decision was joint with publisher Epic Games to be the best outcome for the team to work without any hurdles. “Yeah, it is digital only, and kind of coming to this idea, both from Remedy and Epic’s perspective, that’s our current thinking. It just felt it makes sense for this, and the timing felt right,” creative director Sam Lake shared.
“As creatives obviously, by going digital-only it does allow us more time to polish the game. Like, a significant amount of weeks actually. Because otherwise, the game that goes on the disc, obviously it has to be playable without a patch,” game director Kyle Rowley adds, “We didn’t want to release something that we weren’t proud of basically, and that we didn’t want players to play. So hopefully this way we can give you a better version of the game.”
“We did not want to ship a disc product and have it require a download for the game – we do not think this would make for a great experience either,” Rowley continued with. The official FAQ for Alan Wake II also argued that the decision would also reduce cost for the game. In that, it would only cost users the familiar $59.99/€59.99 rather than the new $69.99/€69.99 the latest console hardware pioneered.
What is your response to Remedy Entertainment’s explanation for skipping on physical media?
Alan Wake II launches on October 17, 2023 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Source: Eurogamer
