Alan Wake crosses 2 million sales, still has a future

Remedy says Alan Wake has crossed 2 million sales on PC, marking it as a "cult classic." While the developer didn't confirm another game in the series, it did note that it has a future.

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The first Alan Wake has crossed the 2 million sales mark, which Remedy says makes it a "cult classic." The developer hasn't announced a follow-up since the downloadable American Nightmare, but says the series is "close to our hearts" and still has a future.

"We've moved over two million copies--that's including PC," head of franchise development Oskari Hakkinen told CVG. "So after a slow start it's turning into something really positive. It's definitely had legs. I think narrative experiences just have a tendency for that. Alan Wake's like a cult classic if you like. People who have played and enjoyed the story feel the urge to tell their friends and other gamers out there that they need to try this experience, they need to play it."

Asked if the franchise still has more games left in it, Hakkinen said, "I think so. Alan Wake is definitely very close to our hearts. It's our IP--we own it. It's not something that we're going to forget very easily."

We know that Remedy is currently working on a next-gen game, not necessarily connected to the Alan Wake series. But it would make sense to go back to the well eventually. After self-publishing the first game on PC, it recouped its costs after only 48 hours.

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  • reply
    April 30, 2013 11:45 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Alan Wake crosses 2 million sales, still has a future.

    Remedy says Alan Wake has crossed 2 million sales on PC, marking it as a "cult classic." While the developer didn't confirm another game in the series, it did note that it has a future.

    • kek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
      reply
      April 30, 2013 11:56 AM

      I played the first one last summer after the Steam sale. I thought it was a good story with creepy environments and repetitive gameplay. Overall I liked it.

      • reply
        April 30, 2013 12:13 PM

        Same here. And, oddly, it felt like a better follow-up to Max Payne 2 than Max Payne 3 did.

      • reply
        April 30, 2013 12:19 PM

        It is one of my favorite environments in any modern game. but the gameplay was a little dull. Looking forward to whatever Remedy makes

    • rms legacy 10 years legacy 20 years mercury super mega
      reply
      April 30, 2013 12:18 PM

      They should be very careful with the gameplay in any new release. In particular, the latest American Nightmare 'novella' (if I can call it that) went too far in adding new weapons in an apparent attempt to increase variety. But the result was a plethora of weapons lockers laying on the ground -- why are those lockers there? They had no connection with the level's environment whatsoever; the story gave the excuse that since AW was creating the story on the fly subconsciously, random stuff could appear -- filled with random high-powered but interchangeable weapons. And the enemies became increasingly random and unbelievable.

      The original title made weapons and ammo fairly scarce, with weapons and enemies you would expect to find in a forest environment.

      • reply
        April 30, 2013 4:02 PM

        He also, toward the end of the game, was writing things into existence to suit his needs. So I can take the (frankly, minor) leap into him being able to write crates into his narrative to fetch better weapons out of.

        • reply
          May 1, 2013 6:59 AM

          I always assumed American Nightmare was a dream by Alan Wake's friend and manager, Barry and didn't actually happen as far as anyone but Barry's imagination is concerned). Remedy pointed out that AW was "not Alan Wake 2" i.e. not a direct sequel.

          Curious to see how much of AN they use in the next game, if they keep it more "arcadey" a'la AN, or go back to the original game's style.

          I'd like to see them keep the same 2-game formula: Big release for Alan Wake 2 (a'la the original) and then (hopefully) less than a year later an XBOX live arcade/Steam release that is more like AN where they can reuse some assets but still keep it fresh and make some $.






    • reply
      April 30, 2013 12:20 PM

      Playing this game while drinking good American IPA was an experience I remember to this day. So good.

    • reply
      April 30, 2013 12:20 PM

      I thoroughly enjoyed playing Alan Wake. The environments and story in that game was well done.

    • reply
      April 30, 2013 12:25 PM

      Wow, 2 mil on pc? Kinda impressed

      • reply
        April 30, 2013 12:38 PM

        not quite, thats INCLUDING PC.

        However, I wouldn't be surprised if PC is any less than 40%

    • reply
      April 30, 2013 12:46 PM

      Unfortunately, we missed our publisher's expected mark of 300 bajillion, kajillion dollars so there will not be a sequel, the entire studio is being let go and the IP is getting locked in a closet for eternity.

      -Video Games

    • reply
      April 30, 2013 1:20 PM

      I really enjoyed Alan Wake. The DLCs expanded the story, but I felt they paled in comparison. Same goes for American Nightmare, which I thought was an interesting premise, but too repetitive, and lacked the punch of the first game.

      If a sequel could match the intensity, narrative, and environment of the first one, I'd be sold.

      Here's hoping.

      • reply
        April 30, 2013 1:22 PM

        plus they have an awesome cliffhanger for the sequel as the DLC didn't really do much to advance the story itself.

    • reply
      April 30, 2013 7:06 PM

      Let me get this straight. Alan Wake, a game that I thought was awesome but sold 2 units (one to me the other a free gift to Billy Gates) was considered a failure, even having an arcade title made cause a full retail game was considered to risky...and now that its finally limped to 2 mil, there is hope for this series.

      But Tomb Raider which sold 3.4 mill as of last quarter, was considered an under performer?

      Hmmm, interesting.

      Hey man, whatever. I guess M$ has seen the light and realize they cant build a home on Halo and Gears of War alone.

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