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Alan Wake 2 devs talk returning to the franchise and horror inspirations

From taking what was learned during Control's development to how narrative focused Alan Wake 2 is, the developers dive into the creation of the sequel.

Sam Chandler

June 20, 2023 8:30 PM

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Alan Wake 2 is real and it’s coming out this year. After what has felt like an eon waiting for the game, the team at Remedy has started to unveil more of what players will be able to dive into and experience in October. But before its release, we had the opportunity to sit down with Sam Lake and Molly Maloney, two developers with an integral role in the creation of Alan Wake 2, and talk to them about returning to the franchise and horror inspirations.

Sam Lake, the creative director of Remedy, lead writer of Alan Wake 2, and co-director, as well as Molly Maloney, the principal narrative designer, sat down with Shacknews recently and answered all of our questions about the upcoming sequel to the cult hit, Alan Wake.

“We always wanted to create a sequel. We had tried it many times. The concept has evolved through the years. Now, finally, things just clicked into place on many fronts,” Lake said. “Creating Control, our previous game, we wanted to set that in the same universe as Alan Wake, so we were inserting elements of Alan Wake into it.” About the same time of creating Control, the team at Remedy got the publishing rights for Alan Wake, which according to Lake, gave them an opportunity to create a remaster.

From the creation of Control came a lot of learning and new discoveries, which the team has applied to Alan Wake 2. For instance, Control, though narrative driven, is rather open, allowing players to explore the vast and mysterious Oldest House. This openness and sense of exploration has been applied to Alan Wake 2, though not to the same degree as Control. As Maloney puts it, “Exploration is a very important and core part of Alan Wake 2, but I don’t think it’s quite as open as Control was.” Lake echoed this, noting that the game is more story-focused.

There’s a lot to learn from the interview with Sam Lake and Molly Maloney, so make sure you check out the video. You can find more developer discussions like this on the Shacknews Interviews YouTube channel. Alan Wake 2 is scheduled to release on October 17, 2023 across PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5.

Sam Chandler

Head of Guides

Hailing from the land down under, Sam Chandler brings a bit of the southern hemisphere flair to his work. After bouncing round a few universities, securing a bachelor degree, and entering the video game industry, he's found his new family here at Shacknews as Head of Guides. There's nothing he loves more than crafting a guide that will help someone. If you need help with a guide, or notice something not quite right, you can message him on X: @SamuelChandler