It’s been about a year and a half since Alan Wake Remastered was released on current-gen consoles and the Epic Games Store, and in all that time, it still hasn’t made back its money. That’s according to Remedy’s CEO who confirmed the unfortunate news following the release of the company’s full-year financials.
"Alan Wake Remastered has not yet generated royalties," said Remedy CEO Tero Virtala (via VGC). "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."
Not generating royalties means that Epic Games, the publisher which funded Alan Wake Remastered, still hasn’t made back its initial investment. However, Epic often requires its games to remain exclusive to the Epic Games Store for a period of time. It’s possible that a future release on Steam, the world’s largest PC games market, might rapidly change Alan Wake Remastered’s profitability.
Not generating royalties means that Epic Games, the publisher which funded Alan Wake Remastered, still hasn’t made back its initial investment. However, Epic often requires its games to remain exclusive to the Epic Games Store for a period of time. It’s possible that a future release on Steam, the world’s largest PC games market, might rapidly change Alan Wake Remastered’s profitability.
The remastered game was released back in October 2021 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via the Epic Games Store. Featuring 4K graphics, improved backgrounds and skybox, new character models and animations, and overhauled cinematics, Alan Wake Remastered is the best version of a very strange game.
Alan Wake is the titular author who decides to travel to the town of Bright Falls on vacation and to get over a bout of writer's block. Once there, his wife goes missing, monsters attack, and the events of his own horror novel start playing out in real life. Most terrifying, Alan has no memory of ever writing the story that haunts his every move.
The original was one of Remedy's biggest successes following Max Payne and preceding Control, spawning the more action-oriented Alan Wake's Nightmare and more recently Alan Wake 2. The sequel was announced at The Game Awards 2021 and after a year of production is now reportedly fully playable from start to finish.
"The game will soon have all content in place, and it is playable from start to finish," said Virtala. "We will then move onto polishing the experience. Alan Wake is a unique brand that holds high value for the company today."