Alan Wake 2 Ideas Are Better Now, But Remedy Still Isn't Committing to Sequel

Remedy Entertainment, developers of upcoming Xbox One-exclusive Quantum Break, have discussed working on a sequel to Alan Wake after the game was released, but decided it "wouldn't work" at that time.

As reported by DualShockers, the studio's creative director Sam Lake attended Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie in Paris and discussed the early stages of Alan Wake 2's development.

Although Remedy worked on prototypes for the sequel, it felt it wasn't starting the project on the best foot.

"We tried to create Alan Wake 2 right after Alan Wake, and obviously you need the right partner. You need the right funding. You need the right concept," he said. "Alan Wake, in some ways, for Remedy is really valuable. It’s our own IP. We own Alan Wake. So maybe there’s also a bit of extra carefulness in making sure that all the elements are right for the success of a sequel. And it just didn’t seem like we were getting it started in the right way.

"We were looking into it. We were doing prototypes. We were doing demos and experimenting on that, and it was really through [those] discussions, that eventually with Microsoft, that we had partnered with for Alan Wake, led into the idea of Quantum Break, but it felt like Alan Wake at that time wouldn't work, in the way we wanted it, at that time, to work."

Early work on Alan Wake 2 eventually led to the idea for Quantum Break, which the studio decided to pursue instead. This, according to Lake, turned out to be beneficial as the studio has since come up with better ideas for what an Alan Wake sequel could be.

"I think that it has been, in a way, fortunate, because we have been iterating the idea of what an Alan Wake sequel could be, and along the way there has been much better ideas than what the concept coming out of Alan Wake was for the sequel. "

This isn't the first time Remedy has discussed Alan Wake 2. In April 2015, Lake said Remedy "worked hard" to make Alan Wake 2 happen, but acknowledged that it could not find the right partners or funding to make it a reality.

Creative director Sam Lake added at the time that the developer could have released a "less ambitious" Alan Wake 2, but this would not have done the series justice.

Remedy has previously said it wants to return to Alan Wake when the time is right.

"Among other things, we are discussing the possibility of an Alan Wake sequel with multiple partners, but nothing has been decided," Lake said.

The studio's next game, Quantum Break, is scheduled to launch on April 5. The game's time-bending story is told across the game and a TV show, which stars X-Men's Shawn Ashmore and Dominic Monaghan from The Lord of the Rings.