Alan Wake sold a pretty solid 4.5 million copies and fostered a passionate fan following yet it was ever followed by a sequel. If the stars are properly aligned, this might finally change.
Fact is, Remedy's creative director and head writer Sam Lake and the rest of the team always intended to develop an Alan Wake sequel even before the original title was released. "Near the end of Alan Wake, we were sitting down and talking about the sequel and where we should be taking it, on a detailed level," he said. "More or less straight from getting Alan Wake shipped, we were working on a sequel and planning on a sequel."
"In many ways, we see the universe as a bigger thing. Alan Wake is a very central character, but we have other characters around him like [friend and agent] Barry Wheeler and his wife Alice and Sheriff Sarah Breaker and other characters there. We feel this is a big universe to develop and explore in many ways."
The team went as far as developing a full prototype for the sequel, a "mood piece" demonstrating "the high-level thematic elements of what's there." Fortunately, Lake believes that this prototype is high level enough to be shared without affecting the prospects of developing a full-fledged sequel.
"The thing that made this idea of releasing this prototype demo OK is that it is very much on a high level," said Sam Lake. "There are no spoilers in it. That being said, I do hope we get an opportunity to work on Alan Wake 2. I want to do more Wake at some point."
The creative director explained that Remedy didn't work on Alan Wake sequel because the studio was focused on Quantum Break and didn't have the resources to create Now that Quantum Break is nearly out of the door, Remedy is starting to plan for its next big thing; and might well be Alan Wake 2.
But not necessarily, though!
"We are living in Quantum Break land and enjoying ourselves," said Sam Lake. "But at the same time we are in a place where we are starting to look into the future and starting to have discussions about what is next."
"Among other things, we are discussing the possibility of an Alan Wake sequel with multiple partners, but nothing has been decided."
