Remember the trademark filing for Alan Wake’s Return that got us all excited at the prospect of a sequel to the cult hit 2010 Xbox 360 game Alan Wake? Well, it turns out that that trademark was only pertaining to an Alan Wake easter egg in the upcoming Quantum Break. As it stands right now, there is no Alan Wake 2. That said, Remedy is still interested in eventually doing a follow up.
“I’ve been very open about our love for Alan Wake,” Remedy boss Sam Lake told Eurogamer. “It’s an IP we own. As I said, as we’ve said, we’d love an opportunity to do more Wake. We’re obviously fully focussed on Quantum Break, but we’re always prototyping things on the side, bouncing around ideas.
“We’re a creative team – we can’t help it! All the time there are other concepts floating around, Alan Wake being very much one big one, but others as well. They come and go – sometimes they stick around for longer and it feels like there really is something to this. Right now, there’s nothing new to say! No new news, we’re just focussing on Quantum Break.”
But then why play with everyone’s feelings with the Alan Wake Returns trademark?
“As with other Remedy games, we love to put all kinds of optional, fun content in,” said Lake. He did add, however, that the reception to that trademark filing was very encouraging.
“Well, the reception to [the trademark] has been really exciting,” said Lake. “That’s clearly a good sign! The same time, the way I look at these things – and this goes meta in a way – in my head they’re all part of this Remedy multiverse in a way. There are echoes, and I love different layers of things – in Alan Wake there were very clear pointers to Max Payne. Not in an obvious way, but in a more layered way. That’s how I see this as well. First and foremost it’s something nice for the Alan Wake fans.”
So there you have it, folks- as of right now, no new Alan Wake sequel, but hey, maybe some time soon in the future. At least, I’ll continue to hold out in hope for it, anyway.