During a recent Q&A session at the EGX Theatre, Creative Director of Remedy Entertainment Sam Lake gave an update on the possibility of a physical release of Alan Wake 2 and whether the spin-off American Nightmare will ever get a remaster.
Lake first addressed the possibility of an America Nightmare remaster, saying:
I’ll start with American Nightmare. Yeah, we did discuss that when we did the remaster, but the reality of it was that the tech base underneath the hood of American Nightmare is already so different from Alan Wake that it would have been separate back then. So, it didn’t make any business sense at the time.
When asked about the reason behind Remedy’s decision to go digital-only on the sequel, Lake said:
Alan Wake 2, as we talked about, I appreciate your passion, I really do, it is a digital-only game. This is a decision between Remedy’s management and our publisher. I hear you, but there are no other plans as of now.
An AW2 FAQ on Remedy’s site further elaborates on a variety of factors that led to the decision to go digital-only, stating:
There are many reasons for this. For one, a large number of have shifted to digital only. You can buy a Sony PlayStation 5 without a disc drive and Microsoft’s Xbox Series S is a digital-only console. It is not uncommon to release modern games as digital-only.
Secondly, not releasing a disc helps keep the price of the game at $59.99 / €59.99 and the PC version at $49.99 / €49.99.
Finally, we did not want to ship a disc product and have it require a download for the game — we do not think this would make for a great experience either.
There are currently no plans to release Alan Wake 2 on disc.
Last May, publisher THQ expressed interest in producing a physical version of the much-anticipated sequel, however, there doesn’t seem to be any plans for one in the foreseeable future.
@alanwake @remedygames I mean… we did the disc version of Alan Wake for PC back in the day ICYMI 😉
And just because ONE person (or company) does not love physical, there is plenty who still do. Give it some thought. We’d love to go at it again! Full circle and all.— THQ Nordic (@THQNordic) May 25, 2023
Meanwhile, THQ Nordic will be releasing a truly awesome-looking Collector’s Edition of Alone in the Dark for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.
In addition to the update on the physical version of AW2, it was also revealed recently that the game will be getting both free and paid DLC. Sam Lake says the free DLC is “pretty significant,” with more info to come once the game launches. There will also be two paid expansions called Night Springs and The Lake House, that are included in the Deluxe editions of the game.
Alan Wake 2 launches digitally for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows via the Epic Games Store on October 27th.
You can preorder both Standard and Deluxe editions of the game here.
