Alan Wake II officially in the works

Eleven years is a long time to endure radio silence, but at last we have the official announcement from Remedy Entertainment: Alan Wake II is real and it’s coming. Check out the Game Awards 2021 cinematic teaser trailer, care of GameSpot:

Fans have been wondering for years whether a sequel was even going to happen, given Remedy’s failure to produce Alan Wake II earlier on (the work laid the foundation for Quantum Break instead). However, after the publishing rights fully reverted to Remedy in 2019, it seemed the time was ripe for a sequel.

Director Sam Lake states that Alan Wake II will be different from its predecessor:

“Whereas the first Alan Wake had horror elements in it, it was an action game. Alan Wake 2 is Remedy’s first survival horror game. Our take on the genre. Our opportunity to truly connect the gameplay and the story. It is a deep, layered mystery.”

The trailer does lean into the survival horror aspect. The scene shifts from a grisly murder scene in the forest to deserted rain-swept city streets to what seems to be a sunny section of Bright Falls. Finally, we see Alan Wake, looking disheveled, haggard, and in need of a good shave. His wielding a flashlight gives us a clue that light will still play an important mechanic in battling the Dark Presence.

Last we heard of Alan Wake, he was still trapped in the nightmare version of Bright Falls and battling the Dark Presence from the first game. He did turn up in the expansion for Remedy’s Control, AWE, where one of Wake’s characters, Dr. Hartman, escapes to trouble Jesse Faden and her Bureau. According to her, Wake’s been missing for years.

With the game still in pre-production, all we know so far is that Alan Wake II will arrive sometime in 2023 and that it will be distributed solely by Epic Games for the PlayStation 5, Windows PC (via the Epic Games Store), and Xbox Series X platforms. It won’t be here for a long while yet, but in the meantime, you can check out Alan Wake Remastered, available for the best prices around.