The recent earnings report from Remedy Entertainment studio has revealed that Alan Wake 2 has yet to turn a profit. Despite a substantial budget and sales exceeding 1 million digital copies, the game has not yet generated a profit. This financial loss places the studio in a precarious situation, potentially impacting the production of other games such as the Max Payne Remake.
However, Remedy remains optimistic, anticipating that Alan Wake 2 will most likely follow the trend of their previous titles like Alan Wake Remastered, which also took some time (2 years) to become greatly profitable.
Alan Wake 2‘s Impact on Future Projects
Despite Alan Wake 2 being the best-selling game of Remedy Entertainment Studio, it has yet to generate a profit. This has understandably raised concerns within the studio. The game’s inability to recoup its budget is most likely due to the absence of physical copies and the limited availability of Alan Wake 2, which is only accessible through the Epic Game Store or Xbox Game Pass on PC. This restricted distribution could have significantly impacted sales.
Steam is the leading distribution service for PC games and significantly influences sales. Alan Wake 2 not being on Steam also affected a lot of potential sales. While the lack of physical copies might not seem like a major issue, there is a large number of fans who appreciate owning physical editions of their favourite games or enjoy the ability to play offline.
The studio has experienced a similar scenario with Alan Wake Remastered but the game began to yield a significant profit after two years. This past success has provided the studio with a sense of relief and fuels their optimism about the future profitability of Alan Wake 2 and the potential success of other projects that are currently in production.
Future projects like Max Payne Remake and Control 2 have been in production (concept only) for some time now. But to take the production from concept to full-fledged game, Remedy needs to invest money and time. For Max Payne‘s Remake, Remedy Studio is working with Rockstar.
However, given Remedy Studio’s reported loss in their Q1 earnings and the budget for Max Payne Remakes is estimated to be similar to Alan Wake 2, it is likely that the production of the game may experience delays.
Max Payne Remake’s Popularity
Max Payne enjoys significant popularity within the gaming community, largely due to its compelling single-player shooting game and story experience. Its sequels have also been well-received and news of a remake in progress has spread excitement among many players and fans.
Despite the anticipated delays, it is projected that the Max Payne remake will commence its production in the first half of 2024. With the full production focused on Alan Wake 2 DLCs which is expected to recover the remaining budget of the game, the production of games such as Control 2 and Max Payne will proceed swiftly.
Remedy is also partnering with developers of games like Grand Theft Auto Rockstar to develop the remake for both Max Payne 1 and 2. This partnership between Remedy and Rockstar will together develop the first 2 games in the Max Payne Series (Max Payne 1 and Max Payne 2) for PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5.
Indeed, the lack of an official release date for the Max Payne remake makes it challenging to estimate the development timeline. However, the small announcement of its production has already stirred up excitement among fans. It’s a testament to the popularity of the franchise and the anticipation for what the remake will bring.
