Remedy: Alan Wake 2 Is Playable from Start to Finish; We’ll Launch One New Game Per Year Starting in 2023

Authored by wccftech.com and submitted by Kaladinar

Today, Remedy reported its full 2022 results and provided an outlook for its future roadmap of projects. CEO Tero Virtala shared some juicy news on Alan Wake 2 (the recent winner of the Most Anticipated Horror Game for 2023 award here on Wccftech), such as that the game is playable from start to finish and will soon be content complete. However, he also revealed that Remedy did not receive any royalties yet from Alan Wake Remastered.

Alan Wake 2 is in full production. The game will soon have all content in place, and it is playable from start to finish. We will then move onto polishing the experience. Alan Wake is a unique brand that holds high value for the company today. Alan Wake Remastered has not yet generated royalties. However, we expect the sales to increase as the release of Alan Wake 2 becomes imminent and fans and new players want to experience the original story on new generation consoles.

While Alan Wake 2 is Remedy's current focus, the studio is also working on several other projects, such as Control 2, which has now progressed into the proof of concept stage. Here's what Virtala had to say about it:

Control 2 expands the story and the world from the original Control. We now have detailed concepts on the game vision and all creative areas including the gameplay, narrative and art. We are pleased with the work the team has done and as of January 2023, the game has progressed into the proof-of-concept stage.

Remedy is also looking to expand into the multiplayer service game market with a Control spin-off and a free-to-play title codenamed Vanguard. Both remain in the proof of concept stages.

Codename Condor is a service-based game and as such a new type of game for Remedy. We are making sure the core gameplay is solid. We are building the right team and production model for the game and are patiently progressing with the development. Together with our partner 505 Games we have seen great potential in Condor. Condor remains in the proof-of-concept stage.

Codename Vanguard is also currently in the proof-of-concept stage. In the fall 2022, we chose to keep the game in the proof-of-concept phase longer and postpone the significant expansion of the development team until 2023. The Vanguard team has made progress and continues to work on core gameplay and meta game development as well as proving the application of Remedy-style narrative and worldbuilding. The development team has been strengthened by select key hires.

Last but certainly not least, you'll certainly remember that Remedy partnered with Rockstar to remake Max Payne 1 & 2. Virtala shared that this project made 'good progress', though it is still in the concept stage. The Finnish studio's goal is to release one game per year starting this year with Alan Wake 2. As such, the last of these projects should launch in 2027.

The incredibly busy schedule did take a toll on Remedy, as revenue decreased by 2.5% in 2022 compared to the previous year. The outlook for 2023 is also negative, but the CEO highlighted that most of these projects are being co-financed by the studio, increasing the royalty potential in the future.

Moreover, Remedy made major investments in the Northlight engine throughout 2022 to ensure the technology would support the high-quality games they've got in the pipeline. New hires also nearly doubled compared to 2021, while Virtala claimed the studio retained its previous workforce, implying that the studio grew in size.

Overall, Remedy seems to be following a very ambitious roadmap following the plan of a Remedy connected universe. We'll certainly be watching with a keen eye.

vulturevan on February 10th, 2023 at 12:46 UTC »

Good: always up for more Remedy. Bad: don't want them to become a content mill

NVSuave on February 10th, 2023 at 11:36 UTC »

Don’t hold your breath for a Steam release

A_Wild_VelociFaptor on February 10th, 2023 at 10:00 UTC »

Hope they've actually planned this out accordingly and not just saying it to attract investors. Annual releases for games that use the same formula can be a bitch, there's no telling how hard new games are going to be.