Alan Wake 2 Developer Was “Much More Confident” in its Switch to Survival Horror After Resident Evil 2 Remake’s Success

The survival horror genre has enjoyed a massive resurgence in recent years, and though it’s seen a few notable successes in recent years, one in particular that tends to stand out is 2019’s Resident Evil 2 remake. Widely regarded as being key to the genre’s recent revival, the RE2 remake has inspired a number of survival horror titles of late, including Remedy Entertainment’s upcoming Alan Wake 2.

In fact, speaking during a recent interview with GamingBolt, game director Kyle Rowley touched on the same again. When asked about how much of a factor the survival horror genre’s recent success was during Alan Wake 2’s development, he said, “Well, it definitely didn’t hurt! Just as we were coming up with the concept for Alan Wake 2, Capcom released Resident Evil 2’s remake. This game’s ability to modernise a 20-year-old classic and its amazing reception definitely made us more confident in our decision to switch the genre, for sure.”

Later in the interview, while discussing Remedy’s multiple attempts over the years to get Alan Wake 2 off the ground and the circumstances surrounding why this particular attempt proved successful, Rowley once again credited Resident Evil 2’s 2019’s remake for contributing to the horror genre’s increasing popularity.

“Luckily, after Control came out, single player, narrative driven experiences were products publishers were more interested in investing in again. Also, horror in general, both across games with the remake of Resident Evil 2 and in popular culture with a lot of A24’s movies, was also on the rise,” Rowley said. “That, combined with us getting the publishing rights back for the original game meant everything kind of just fell into place for us making the sequel now – which we are all very happy about, obviously!”

During the interview, Rowley also told us about other genre classics that Alan Wake 2 takes cues from- like the Silent Hill franchise and its brand of psychological horror. Rowley also discussed Remedy’s previous failed attempts to do a game with multiple protagonists, as well as how Alan Wake 2’s combat is set to differ from the original game.

Alan Wake 2 launches on October 27 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Our full interview with Rowley will go live soon, so stay tuned for that.