550°

Microsoft Wanted Something New That's Why Alan Wake 2 Didn't Happen

According to the Quantum Break Creative Director, Sam Lake, he initially pitched in an idea for Alan Wake 2 and that he wanted to do the sequel, but Microsoft wasn't interested in doing a sequel and wanted something entirely fresh.

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sirusgaming.info
ninsigma2502d ago

QB was ok but probably would have been better of with Alan Wake two considering that's what a lot of people have been asking for. Who owns that IP?? Now that they're going multiplat, can they make the sequal now or does MS own it??

deadfrag2502d ago

Remedy owns the QB and Alan Wake IPs!

2502d ago
MegamanXXX2502d ago

Microsoft don't own Alan Wake

2502d ago
Skull5212501d ago

I'm okay with it. Some things just need to stand on their own as a one and done great experience. Bioshock and Dead Space should have done the same.

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2502d ago
Aceman182502d ago

I was soooo disappointed in QB, and wished they had did AW2 instead since i loved the first one.

2502d ago Replies(3)
babadivad2502d ago (Edited 2502d ago )

Maybe I'm the minority here, but I enjoyed QB a lot more than Alan Wake. Sure AW was good, but QB was amazing IMO. The gameplay was similarly enjoyable, but the story in that game had me gripped from beginning to end. I love stories where you don't get the entire story until the end.

Made me want to play it again to notice all the things I missed the first time. The story was so tight and enjoyable.

Alan Wake seemed like a Stephen King novel to me. Alan Wake seemed like the dude from "Bag of Bones" but especially "The Dark Half". I enjoyed those books tremendously, but Alan Wake seemed like a blend of those two books. The Main character from Bag of Bones in the world of The Dark Half.

I didn't enjoy this story as much because it seemed like the concept has been done before. QB's story seemed much fresher. So I enjoyed it more.

ninsigma2502d ago

I liked QB. Wasn't anything special but still enjoyable. Played Alan Wake once and just couldn't get into it. Didn't like how it played at all.

2502d ago
conanlifts2502d ago

Quantum break was a good game, just not an amazing game. Alan Wake was certainly better. The thing is Quantum break has a lot of potential. If they ditched the tv series aspect and addressed some of the flaws a sequel could be amazing. Unfortunately i think ms will abandon any new ip that is not amazing on its first outing. We probably wont be seeing QB2 and it wouldn't surprise me if Alan Wake 2 came out on other platforms as well. This is the issue with ms not developing their big games in house.

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Aenea2502d ago

They should follow through with that idea and not give up after one try. Keep making new IPs, some will fail completely, some will be okay but can be improved upon in a sequel, some will be very successful, but keep going!

And of course also make sequels as well! Just do both basically! And if you hit the jackpot with a new IP make sequels for that as well! And for the love of console gaming, hire more developers! The teams you have are excellent, let them hire more so they can have more than 1 complete team!

It's crazy that a company that is mostly about software has troubles doing this. I think it has something to do that some higher ups and/or shareholders don't like to take too many risks, but am sure it's bound to be successful in the long run if they keep trying!

Death2502d ago

Game development is a business. Platform holders need to sell these games at a profit or they risk studio closures. This is why Sony closed Evolution Studios, Guerrilla Cambridge and parted ways with Ready at Dawn as a second party studio. It is also why we seen Microsoft shut down Lionhead, Press Play and cancelled Scalebound.

Making games just to say you have them is bad business. Platform holders need to make games that actually sell which is the hard part.

OMGitzThatGuy2502d ago

Alot of gamers have that bad when they want companies to revive super niche titles for nostalgia purposes when it wont sell well and will lead to layoffs. I cant imagine a game like Battletoads or some of the less known about games getting a sequel.

Godmars2902502d ago

"Game development is a business."

And yet its often defended as an art.

And as bad as studios overextending their finances on a project that they close down if it fails utterly, doesn't make a specific level of profit, its worse when publishers force them to cut corner and push them towards deadlines under those same conditions. And the studios still catch a majority of the blame.

2pacalypsenow2502d ago

@Godmars290

Games can be considered art on the outside, but on the inside it's still a business.

Which is why most artists are broke.

pietro12122502d ago

@Godmars290
You do realize so many aspects of art is also a business right? Rather it's in a gallery/ museum setting, music, movies, comics and video games. Hell most galleries/ museums you're required to have a background in business for the position.

Imalwaysright2502d ago

@ Godmars290

Books, movies, music... are art forms but they're also industries.

rainslacker2502d ago

An artist friend of mine(painter not graphics art), said the difference between a successful artist and a starving artist is that a successful artist knows how to sell their work. The talent is usually irrelevant. In gaming, the talent is also important, but not always completely necessary, as formulistic releases can also do well.

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rainslacker2502d ago

Sometimes giving up after one game means a series can never reach it's full potential.

Without risk, there is no reward....unless you make games by the numbers, but when those numbers don't work out on release, you tend to lose more.

GamesMaster19822502d ago

Alan Wake 2 would of been excellent but i thought Quantim Break was complete trash and dont even get me started on them stupid tv shows every five mins. I wanted to play a game not watch a tv series .

Powah12502d ago

" i thought Quantim Break was complete trash "

No doubt.

sk8ofmnd2502d ago

Quantum Break was garbage. Yet, watch them release a QB2.

spartan112g2502d ago

Quantum Break was a fun ass game. Much more fun tha Alan Wake.

x_xavier_x2502d ago

@GamesMaster1982

"them stupid tv shows every five mins"

There were only 4 or 5 live action sequences in the entire game. These "TV show" episodes were an OPTIONAL component and could be skipped if the player so choose.

I found them to be completely engrossing. The excellent production values and onscreen talent provided one of the most immersive experiences I've had playing a video game.

mcstorm2502d ago

I'm with you. I enjoyed QB but I did think AW was the better of the 2 games. I feel people hate on qb and aw because they are on Microsoft platform but for me ide take a number 2 of both.

OC_MurphysLaw2502d ago

QB wasn't perfect...but it wasn't trash either. I think there is a good game to be found they just need to refine and change some things. Narrative wise, its solid and I liked the overall story but I think I would suggest a full animated experience this time. Don't get me wrong...I did like the TV episodes but I felt it was a bit jarring going from the animation to the FMV. I am just not a fan of mixing the two. Gameplay wise, I think QB's biggest flaw was a lack of a proper cover system. I know they wanted to push players to use the powers but frankly the game screamed 3rd person cover shooter so not just allowing for that always made combat feel like it was gimped and overly frustraiting when you tried to use cover. Let me go into a proper locked cover and I will still use my time powers if you give them to me. I would even say the time mechanics would have been even better if you the player felt more confident about being able to stay in cover to use them. And, they also probably need to work on their boss fight difficulty given how the last one turns out.

Anyway, I would welcome a QB 2.

BiggerBoss2502d ago

The production value?? The production value on those "episodes" were a joke! Indie films look better than that. Cable tv shows even have better production value. It looks like one of those fan made "tv shows" that is hosted on like YouTube or something

x_xavier_x2502d ago (Edited 2502d ago )

@BiggerBoss

"Indie films look better than that. Cable tv shows even have better production value"

Your comparison is irrelevant since you are referring to a different medium. Indie films and cable TV shows can have budgets that can exceed $10,000,000 (per episode for shows like ER, Friends, Rome, Game of Thrones). The creators of such have the luxury of focusing all of their time and resources into making a singular product, instead of, you know, making a AAA video game too.

"It looks like one of those fan made "tv shows" that is hosted on like YouTube or something"

Please list the GAMES that you believe have better production values in their live action cut scenes than Quantum Break.

BiggerBoss2502d ago

@xavier

Umm, Microsoft is one of the richest companies on earth. There's no excuse for the live-action cutscenes to not be film-level quality.

x_xavier_x2502d ago (Edited 2502d ago )

@ BiggerBoss

What does Microsoft's current market value have to do with this debate? MS did not develop or produce Quantum Break. They published it. Even if MS did create the game their vast amount of revenue would not guarantee a quality production. There are countless 100 million dollar films that are poorly produced, some of which are far worse than the live action sequences in QB.

You still didn't answer my request. Name a GAME that has better live action cut scenes (film-level as you put it) than QB.

rainslacker2502d ago (Edited 2502d ago )

Immersive in a video game usually doesn't mean taking one out of the game for 22 minutes at a time. The production quality was just above SyFy mini-series quality, and the acting was OK.

As far as being skippable, doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of having a story driven game?

QB on the game side was decent enough, although a bit repetative the further it went on. It had it's faults, but generally no major complaints But I'd say it was average. nothing bad, but nothing spectacular. The story presentation of the game though made it a chore to get through.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 2502d ago
conanlifts2502d ago

There were 4 live action episodes that occurred at the end of the first 4 chapters. They certainly were not every 5 minutes. You were also able to skip them, no need to watch any of the episodes. QB was around 10 hours long (average play time according to HLTB), which means a live action episode roughly every 2 hours for the first 4 chapters.

HaikusfromBuddha2502d ago

Anyone who has played both games know they are pretty much the same thing. Alan Wake suffers in that the gameplay is boring same as QB. Only difference is QB has a good story.

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Neonridr2502d ago

I can't wait for Alan Wake 2 to eventually be done. I adored that game on my 360.

Razzer2502d ago

Hopefully, Remedy doesn't have to run their ideas by Microsoft anymore.

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510°

Alan Wake 2 Still Hasn't Earned Back Its Budget

Remedy has released its financial statement for the first quarter of 2024, and despite strong sales, Alan Wake 2 has yet to recoup its development costs.

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techraptor.net
-Foxtrot14d ago

Well. They know what they gotta do…

toxic-inferno14d ago

Exactly.

With every article like this, I becomr more convinced that an announcement is inevitable. Hoping for something around the time of the game's 1-year anniversary.

-Foxtrot14d ago

I want to believe they are just hanging on to try and get the last drop out of the digital market but another part of me thinks it’s just spite at this point, not wanting to admit their business move was a f***** terrible decision

They made out it was because they wanted to offer it cheaper to us but me and others would have gladly paid the standard for physical. Even a collectors edition would have been nice to buy.

toxic-inferno14d ago

Absolutely. What would the harm have been? Offer the digital version at the lower price they want, and a "Collector's Edition" with some fairly naff additions for 50% more. I'd have gone for it without question.

Cacabunga14d ago

physical release or go home Remedy.

_Decadent_Descent14d ago

Bringing it to Steam would definitely help too. Although I suspect getting a physical release is probably more likely, and even that doesn't look good.

neutralgamer199214d ago

Waiting on steam release otherwise no buy. And I would double dip to get physical for ps5 or XSX but remedy have to first admit there is a problem before a solution is made available

darthv7214d ago

i think its an Epic game though.... does Epic release games on Steam?

notachance14d ago

definitely waiting for steam version, I never buy a game on another storefront at all.. even gamepass games I'd just try for a bit then buy the steam version if I like it.

Yui_Suzumiya13d ago

Yeah, I'm waiting on a Steam version as well.

wesnytsfs13d ago

Not sure at this point a physical release makes sense. Would you even recoup enough lost money on the costs to get the game released physically. Mots who wanted to play the game did not sure you would sell enough copies to recoup the costs to get the game out physically.

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babadivad14d ago

IMHO, it just wasn't that good. It's not as good as QB or Control.

TheEroica13d ago

Exclusive games.... The cancer of modern gaming. Only corporate friendly husks root for exclusive games as a model.

seanpitt2313d ago

What were they expecting.. release digital only and make there money back, come on! they shot themselves in the foot alienating all the fans of physical media.. now the hype has gone down it will be difficult to shift copies now even if they do release disks. Only way of making extra $ release on ps plus

wesnytsfs13d ago

Blows my mind someone would pass on obtaining a game they wanted to play just so you can have the case and a game disc that is already out of date to the current live version. The boxes upon boxes and totes full of game and game related accs and hardware when I moved made me grateful for all the digital stuff I had.

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darthv7214d ago

I bet it would if they just pressed a few discs and sold them at retail.

monkey60214d ago

I still haven't bought it. Would have if it was physical though

TheProfessional13d ago

Alan Wake 2 is also just not that good. Its the sequel to a good but not great game to begin with and the case board "gameplay" was terrible and there wasn't enough combat. Also the live action stuff looks really cheap and Sam Lake didn't need to put himself into alan wake 2 for no reason.

shinoff218314d ago (Edited 14d ago )

Lol. I imagine there's still alot of people that buy physicals. Or atleast see what kind of new games are out by what they see in real stores. This is on them. Idda paid 70 day one physical. Now I won't pay more then 15 for it

Crows9014d ago

You don't have to imagine
...still at least 40% of sales come from physical.

Amplitude14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

I'd imagine significantly more than 40% of PC gamers also only buy games on Steam.
Maybe a crazy remastered Steam release will launch alongside the RTX 6070 or something once the Epic Store's gone for good. EGS is basically a Fortnite launcher that also sells games with an unreasonably amount of missing features. Alan Wake and Fortnite have absolutely nothing in common either. I can't imagine this sold well and there's no way Epic would ever fund something this big ever again. Basically though; when Fort dies, EGS dies and I hope a Steam release will come after so this game can get the audience it deserves.

I bought a 360 for AW1 and have been waiting years to play AW2 but I just haven't had the ability to buy it yet. I was gonna "steal" it but I just felt too terrible about it half way through the intro. I've since just stopped caring. I'm patient

Good-Smurf14d ago

This game and Sonic Dream Team needs physical release fast.

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70°

Remedy Makes Changes to Core Management Team, Wants to Grow Alan Wake & Control in Larger Franchises

Remedy has made a couple of changes to its core management team with the goal to grow Alan Wake and Control into larger franchises.

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wccftech.com
Jingsing17d ago

Changes like not being anti consumer? putting out Alan Wake Remastered on disc but not the sequel?

ElaBosak5d ago

No one cares about games on discs.

ElaBosak5d ago

Good for them! Can't wait for Control and Max Payne remakes.

60°

Alan Wake 2 Benchmark & PC Optimized Settings

With path-traced diffuse lighting and reflections even the mighty RTX 4090 can't hit 60 FPS at 4K without frame generation.

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pcoptimizedsettings.com