To catch you up on the past of Alan Wake ahead of the survival horror sequel’s launch then, creative director and Sam Lake has provided a video, courtesy of IGN, that recaps the events of everything leading up to Alan Wake 2, covering the first game itself (which is obviously the bulk of the story), its standalone follow-up Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, and Control’s second DLC, AWE, which tied Remedy’s two franchises together and set the stage for Alan Wake 2. Check out the video below.

Alan Wake 2 is due out on October 27 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Remedy Entertainment’s Alan Wake will be available on the Xbox Store and Steam till the end of this weekend. Why? Because on May 15th, it will be removed due to expiring music licenses. Poets of the Fall, why have you forsaken us?

The news was announced by Remedy in a tweet which also confirmed that the game’s physical editions would be pulled from stores as well. The game – along with the DLC and Alan Wake’s American Nightmare – will be discounted by 90 percent starting from May 13th, 10 AM PT/1 PM ET on Steam. No word yet on whether the Xbox Store will receive the same discount.

However, if you already own the game, then it will still be in your library. It simply won’t be purchasable from any stores, online or physical.

Remedy said in a recent community post that, “Alan Wake’s American Nightmare will stay in retail. We are looking into re-licensing the music for Alan Wake, but have no timeframe for this.”

Thoughts on Alan Wake disappearing from stores? Let us know in the comments.

Remedy’s Oskari Hakkinen, had a lot to say about the studio’s design choices in creating Alan Wake in an interview with OXM. When asked about Alan Wake 2, and what direction the studio might take for the game, Hakinnen revealed that it’s not really feasible for tight storytelling.

“I think that this episodic structure that we’ve landed on is something that’s a very strong thing for very tight storytelling in videogames,” he said. “Wherever and whenever the story lasts between 10 and 20 hours, where the movie-like structure doesn’t really work that much.”

He also said that he wasn’t really certain about the open world design for storytelling, and mentioned some things about Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, and how it features some open ended mechanics.

“How that would be possible in an open world, I’m not so certain about,” Hakkinen said.

“American Nightmare – yeah, it has gone a little more towards action, and we’ve actually found that there is a more open world-ish atmosphere where you can discover these radio shows and TV shows around the world.

“Games need to be made for the platform, we felt that that a more action-oriented Alan Wake fit Xbox Live Arcade much better. Had we done a boxed retail version of that it would have been a much tighter, heavier story,” he added.

“It’s quite a light, pulp adventure story with a lot of action in there, it’s pick up and play – just dive into it and have a ton of fun, and if you like it then go play the original Wake, because that’s the psychological thriller part of it.”

So, basically what Hakkinen means is that – Remedy excels in story telling and an open world design is detrimental to that.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Have a look for yourself.

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare releases on Xbox Live on February 22.

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is written as a stand-alone action-adventure that anyone can pick up and play even if they have never played the original game. Fans already familiar with the Alan Wake universe will find themselves right at home though, as it includes plenty of optional content to take the story forward. In addition to the game’s story mode, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare also introduces FIGHT TILL DAWN, a new, fast-paced, over-the-top arcade mode that offers fresh enemy designs, new weapons, online leaderboards and plenty of unlockable rewards.

Check out this new developer diary for Alan Wake’s American Nightmare. It shows some new improvements from the game, and is already available on Xbox Live Arcade.

Remedy sits down and takes a look at Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is the Developer Diary.

The footage is almost 3-min long, and some of the Remedy developers tell you what the game is all about. The developers talk about the story, arcade mode and what you should expect from the game and other things.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare will feature a duo of EMI songwriters and composers, namely “Club Foot” which is performed by British indie-electronica-rockers Kasabian and “Watching the Sun Come Up” by English singer-songwriter and Mercury-Prize winner Ed Harcourt.

“Having already worked with Remedy on their previous Alan Wake title we were more than happy to continue our relationship with them and I believe that our combined ability to select and supervise moody tracks for Remedy’s upcoming action-adventure will result in a better gameplay experience.” said Andreas Olsson, VP Sales at EMI Music Publishing Scandinavia.

“Music played an important role in the original Alan Wake and we’ve carried that tradition over to American Nightmare with an exceptionally strong selection of original and licensed songs”, said Oskari Häkkinen, Head of Franchise Development at Remedy “and to spice things up a little more, Alan’s old-time buddy and literary agent Barry Wheeler has become the manager of the game’s seminal rock-band – expect a brand new single to be included with the game!”

Check out this extended trailer from Alan Wake’s American Nightmare.remedy

The main story mode in Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is part of the ‘Night Springs’ TV show fiction and offers an exaggerated pulp action adventure where the horrors of reality have the all too easy habit of coming true. Alan Wake finds himself stuck in an altered reality filled with dangerous shadows; he must leap into action and pursue his evil doppelganger, Mr. Scratch, across the Arizona mesa towards the town of Night Springs. Scratch, a supernatural serial killer, has his evil plans set on Wake’s wife, Alice. Wake must learn to control reality itself and unravel the secret to Mr. Scratch’s demise while using the power of light to put an end to the darkness.

So it seems that Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is the official name for the Alan Wake game that is going to be revealed at Spike VGAs this Saturday. This was revealed by a German video game rating board.

We don’t have much information on the game but all we have is this screenshot from which you can check above.

This is not Alan Wake 2 but a separate game that will be available only on Xbox Live. We will keep you updated once we get more info on the game. So stay tuned to GB.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.