Alan Wake was one of the victims of Red Dead Redemption's retail shootout earlier this year, but Remedy's Managing Director Matias Myllyrinne isn't bitter about it. Speaking to Joystiq at GDC Europe, the studio head expressed, "RDR is a fantastic game, due credit to Rockstar, they deserve it. For us, Wake clicked with gamers and a lot of the reviewers out there. I think it will continue to sell as folks learn about it."
Myllyrinne expressed hope that the world of Wake would be something that Remedy could continue building on in the future. He couldn't make any announcements on future plans for Mr. Wake, but after seeing the strong reaction from the audience to the game, he feels Remedy established the key things it wanted to do with Wake -- "as a form of entertainment and art." Speaking directly to the numbers and the cost of Wake's five-year production, he said, "Commercially, the numbers will make sense in the end."
The internally episodic narrative of Alan Wake would lend itself well to online distribution (perhaps following in Fable 2's footsteps), and Myllyrinne told us, "I don't think there's anything technically stopping us from doing that. I think those will be business decisiions we'll make together with Microsoft. I think it would be an interesting experiment."
He also told us the next piece of DLC, dubbed "The Writer," is "not too far away" and that, in terms of gameplay, will feel more "surreal," like "Salvadore Dali does Alan Wake." When pushed on whether Remedy would take a break from Wake after the second DLC episode launches, he couldn't get into specifics. Myllyrinne said he had promised some folks that he wouldn't talk, but that Remedy would announce its next project "in a few months."
Reader Comments (14)
Posted: Aug 18th 2010 8:13AM BlackedOut said
It definitely lends itself to the distribution method.
And it needs more sales.
Reply
And it needs more sales.
Posted: Aug 18th 2010 8:23AM Lerkero said
Interesting experiment? Somebody has to get it right. So far most of the major games with episodes have not fared well. Even Half Life 2 is barely considered episodic.
Alan Wake is the perfect game to try out episodic content, but I fear the low initial sales may have reduced Remedy and Microsoft's interest in putting more effort into episodic releases. Maybe next time.
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Alan Wake is the perfect game to try out episodic content, but I fear the low initial sales may have reduced Remedy and Microsoft's interest in putting more effort into episodic releases. Maybe next time.
Posted: Aug 18th 2010 11:03AM RandomAcronym said
@MLS from Remedy's FAQ:
Will there be any Alan Wake sequels?
Yes. Alan Wake is planned to be part of a series with each game being part of a "season" of a TV-series style template.
I just hope that they don't cancel AW2.
http://forum.alanwake.com/showthread.php?t=1216
Reply
Will there be any Alan Wake sequels?
Yes. Alan Wake is planned to be part of a series with each game being part of a "season" of a TV-series style template.
I just hope that they don't cancel AW2.
http://forum.alanwake.com/showthread.php?t=1216
Posted: Aug 18th 2010 8:42AM xreadmore said
Personally I think this game should be 100% Episodic DLC. Then they could sell the "season" for all the people with no internet connection. I'd want an episode a month though, which might not be possible in the game development world.
I remember Stephen King released the Green Mile as a serial novel and I really enjoyed it. I kept checking the book store every week hoping for the next part, and there is that excitement when you finally find it on the shelf!
Remedy could easily do this. What a great way to keep people excited about your game.
Reply
I remember Stephen King released the Green Mile as a serial novel and I really enjoyed it. I kept checking the book store every week hoping for the next part, and there is that excitement when you finally find it on the shelf!
Remedy could easily do this. What a great way to keep people excited about your game.
Posted: Aug 18th 2010 8:50AM BlackedOut said
You realise the game's chapters are literally episodes, beginning with a "previously on Alan Wake" clip and ending with a cliffhanger and a full length song...
I think it suits it even more so than Fable 2, and it would be a good way to generate sales.
Reply
I think it suits it even more so than Fable 2, and it would be a good way to generate sales.
Posted: Aug 18th 2010 9:02AM User Formerly Known as Dave said
Love RDR--but bought Wake on sale for $30. You can't beat the price.
Reply
Posted: Aug 18th 2010 10:54AM JRT Forever said
Alan Wake: boring, insulting, tired. Sent this numbingly uninteresting game back to Game Fly after I turned on a TV during a climatic section of episode four. As soon as I saw the Verizon commercial I was pushed over the edge.
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Posted: Aug 18th 2010 11:24AM BoBsS said
Just like Mass Effect 2, I would like to see this game go multiplatform so that it can move more units, and seeing how Heavy Rain sold a game like Alan Wake could hold its own on the PS3 too.
ME2 has been doing pretty well, but now with it being on the PS3 it can easily do 5 million sold units which is great and deserving, and I think Alan Wake is also a deserving title.
Too bad RDR overshadowed this.
Reply
ME2 has been doing pretty well, but now with it being on the PS3 it can easily do 5 million sold units which is great and deserving, and I think Alan Wake is also a deserving title.
Too bad RDR overshadowed this.
Posted: Aug 18th 2010 11:58AM TheIcemanCometh said
I don't mind the episodic nature of the title at all, as long as it has a decent story.
The thing I wish Remedy would fix would be the damned achievements. I swear this game has to have the most collectibles on the planet. There seem to be very few achievements that are actually based on the STORY. I would rather see achievements for completing individual episodes/specials on Normal, Hard and Nightmare than collecting stupid crap that has nothing to do with the story. Can Pyramids and Coffee Thermoses? Please.
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The thing I wish Remedy would fix would be the damned achievements. I swear this game has to have the most collectibles on the planet. There seem to be very few achievements that are actually based on the STORY. I would rather see achievements for completing individual episodes/specials on Normal, Hard and Nightmare than collecting stupid crap that has nothing to do with the story. Can Pyramids and Coffee Thermoses? Please.
Posted: Aug 18th 2010 2:03PM leo2178 said
Alan Wake and UFC devs = crybabies
Multiple games come out every month of every year. RDR selling a very well has absolutely nothing to do with their lack of sales. If you can't build enough consumer interest in your games they wont sell. I along with my friends didn't buy Alan Wake until we found it for sub $30. We didn't want to go out and spend $60 game that we weren't sure would have a complete story. All they kept saying was that it was episodic and the next episodes would be aid for DLC (which had not been priced yet). Since they overprice just about everything on LIVE, we weren't convinced that we wanted to invest money or time into the game on release day. As for UFC I along with most of the people I've talked to didn't buy for two reasons. Not enough different from last year and the fact that you have to more to play online.
Reply
Multiple games come out every month of every year. RDR selling a very well has absolutely nothing to do with their lack of sales. If you can't build enough consumer interest in your games they wont sell. I along with my friends didn't buy Alan Wake until we found it for sub $30. We didn't want to go out and spend $60 game that we weren't sure would have a complete story. All they kept saying was that it was episodic and the next episodes would be aid for DLC (which had not been priced yet). Since they overprice just about everything on LIVE, we weren't convinced that we wanted to invest money or time into the game on release day. As for UFC I along with most of the people I've talked to didn't buy for two reasons. Not enough different from last year and the fact that you have to more to play online.
Posted: Aug 18th 2010 3:38PM jsx92 said
I thought Alan Wake was terrible. I finished it a couple days ago, and was bored to tears throughout the entire ordeal. The story is abysmal amateur nonsense, the gameplay was redundant and boring, and on top of it all it wasn't really scary at all, even alone in the dark with headphones.
I suspect the poor sales are because it's a poor game. Sort of like RDR sales are great because it's a great game.
Reply
I suspect the poor sales are because it's a poor game. Sort of like RDR sales are great because it's a great game.
Posted: Aug 18th 2010 4:14PM JasonA said
@jsx92
I actually agree with you although I think we are in the minority.
There were some cool things in the game (the live-action stuff on TV, the fact that your flashlight worked as your reticule for shooting, some of the atmosphere).
But overall, it was very unpolished and clunky and repetitive.
Reply
I actually agree with you although I think we are in the minority.
There were some cool things in the game (the live-action stuff on TV, the fact that your flashlight worked as your reticule for shooting, some of the atmosphere).
But overall, it was very unpolished and clunky and repetitive.
Posted: Aug 19th 2010 11:59PM JRT Forever said
@jsx92 Alan Wake was so boring. This game really took 5 years to complete?
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