Excitement Over Alan Wake 2 Rumours Proves Remedy’s Next Game Needs To Be The Sequel To 2010’s Alan Wake

The Stephen King and Twin Peaks-inspired adventure Alan Wake has retained a certain amount of popularity in the six years since release, even though it didn’t fair too well commerically upon release. However, it’s now something of a cult classic and recent findings point to a return for Alan Wake and fans are excited to say the least.

The findings come from a user on NeoGaf who found a trademark filing for the alanwakesreturn.com domain name last year. The trademark registration is the first sign of life that we’ve got of a sequel to Alan Wake that’s not sly hints dropped by the studio themselves. The trademark was also filed via FastTrack which means that Remedy might have been in a bit of a hurry to get this done. In the original Alan Wake, you played as the titular character who’s investigating the disappearance of his wife. Wake is a best-selling thriller novelist who tries his best to look for clues of his wife’s whereabouts. However, strange things begin to happen and Wake soon realizes he’s living the plot of his latest novel.

Thanks to the Xbox News website, we know that pre-orders for Quantum Break will also reward buyers with a digital copy of Alan Wake and its DLC’s alongside the standalone experience Alan Wake: American Nightmare.

“Two of Remedy Entertainment’s most popular and critically-acclaimed classics – Alan Wake andAlan Wake’s American Nightmare – are now part of the Quantum Break experience. Every copy ofQuantum Break for Xbox One will come with a full-game download for Alan Wake for Xbox 360, plus its two add-on packs, The Signal and The Writer, playable on Xbox One via Backward Compatibility. Fans who pre-order Quantum Break for Xbox One at participating retailers or through the Xbox Store will also receive a full-game download of Alan Wake’s American Nightmarefor Xbox 360.”

Maybe this is more than a simple good-will gesture and perhaps a tactical move to ramp up and re-invigorate interest in the Alan Wake game. As far back as 2013 Remedy talked about Alan Wake 2 where they filled fans in on why Alan Wake 2 wasn’t happening at that time. It came down to the fact of Alan Wake not performing well when it was first released, even though the series went on to sell over 3 million copies.

“When Alan Wake come out, it was not a huge hit on day one,” Sam Lake said. “The Alan Wake franchise has moved more than 3 million copies since, which is a nice figure. But when the game was released, that was not the case immediately.”

As a result, Remedy couldn’t secure funding for a full sequel. “Sure, we could have gone ahead and made something less ambitious, but we felt that that wouldn’t have done justice to you guys, to us… and certainly would’ve have done justice to Alan Wake.”

Sam Lake told IGN in April 2015 they would consider revisiting the Alan Wake franchise in 2016.

“Alan Wake was one of the most engrossing and cinematic games of the Xbox 360 generation and it would be interesting to see what Remedy Entertainment would do if they decided to revisit the IP again,” Lake told IGN. “However, right now our focus is on working with them to deliver the best possible experience with Quantum Break when it launches exclusively on Xbox One in 2016.”

However, we do know that Remedy secured funding for their new IP Quantum Break – set to release on April 5th – and it’s always nice to let a studio like Remedy try something new and treat fans to a fresh, unique experience. Quantum Break suffered a few delays but it was finally revealed at Gamescom 2015 that this might have been in part due to a whole new cast replacing the old cast.

Replacing the characters seen in previous demos are stars of film and TV, including X-Men’s Iceman, Shawn Ashmore. Ashmore plays the main character, who has been given the same time-shifting powers as his brother, played by Dominic Monaghan of Lost and Lord of the Rings fame.

Also on board, shown in a trailer for the live-action TV series that will be unlocked as you progress through the game, were Lance Reddick of Lost and Fringe and Game of Thrones’ Aiden Gillan.

If you take the time to read between the lines, it’s clear that Microsoft obviously upped the stakes with Quantum Break and must have increased the budget for it. Now, while the switch to a more widely known Hollywood cast could be just a testament to the game’s quality and Microsoft’s and Remedy’s shared faith in the game, it’s also a possibility that this was Microsoft making a bold statement to Remedy. A statement telling them something along the lines of ‘We’re behind you’.

Even as recently as January 2016, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer also stirred up the internet with a hint towards Alan Wake 2 responding to a fan question about the coveted Alan Wake 2  saying that “Right now all of our focus with @remedygamesis on @QuantumBreak but as we finish I’m sure we’ll talk about the future.” If all this is anything to go by, it seems pretty likely that the next game from Remedy will be the sequel to Alan Wake.

All signs are pointing towards Remedy’s next game being a follow-up to 2010’s Alan Wake and once Quantum Break is in our hands, we’re sure that everyone will point their attention towards Alan Wake 2 and we can’t blame them. Alan Wake was truly one of the most engrossing games to come out of the last generation of consoles and a sequel would only be a good thing.

Do you think the rumours are true and Remedy’s next game will be a sequel to 2010’s Alan Wake? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below.