It’s a lot more than I imagined would come in, so thank you.
It’s a really encouraging precedent for doing similar things in the future.
I asked Sam Lake your questions at the end of last week ahead ofhis visit to EGX.
Sorry it’s taken a few days to turn around but I haven’t had much time.
And he certainly had fun with a few of them.
Even my shortlist proved to have far too many questions to fit in.
But I asked as many as I could.
That said, I hope you enjoy the conversation.
And remember: Alan Wake 2 releases 27th October on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox X/S.
But there’s a lot to get through so prepare yourself.
[Sam Lake visibly prepares himself]
Here we go.
Kix asks, “Are you awake?”
Sam Lake:[Laughs] I am!
But it is a challenge because of the travelling and time difference.
And the irony is I’m here in New York and flying back home tonight.
Now, I’m adjusted.
I suppose it helps you tap into what it must feel like to be Alan Wake!
Sam Lake:Yes very much so!
And working on a long project like this, it’s intense.
It’s a lot of work.
It’s long nights and too little sleep.
Alpha Aquilae asks: “Hi!
I’m a big fan of your work!
Alan Wake is my favourite game, with its story, music, atmosphere and characters.
This dream becomes a reality that we can all play in just two weeks from now.
Sam Lake:This has been quite a project in many ways.
First of all, thank you for those kind words.
It took us so long to get this started, even.
But at the same time, I have been so happy.
The big theme of Alan Wake 2 is duality - light, darkness.
And working on it has been just the same; both sides represented.
So yeah, four-plus years we’ve been working on this.
Sam Lake:Yeah, I mean we had those pieces coming together.
What, across the whole Control game?
Sam Lake:Yeah.
We hid the details of it being in the same universe as Alan Wake.
We didn’t want to announce it, we wanted players to find it.
But then, when it was discovered, we announced our idea of Remedy Connected Universe.
And the final DLC of Control is of course a big crossover event between Alan Wake and Control.
That, to us, was leading to Alan Wake 2.
Scroome asks, “Hey Sam.
I’d like to ask specifically about Alan in the game.
Sam Lake:A great question.
But we come to him and, well, he is in a very dark place in his life!
And I’m just wondering what emotion you were trying to represent with that face?
You know the one I mean…”
Sam Lake:Ha ha - yeah!
The thing is, this is not the character-model’s face all the time.
It’s just when you are firing the gun.
So all the screenshots forMax Payneare when he’s firing the gun and you see the gorgeous muzzle flash.
So that’s kind of etched in everybody’s mind.
Sam Lake:It’s too early to go into that.
It’s too early to talk about that in any way, really.
But it would have to be you, right?
The internet would go crazy if it’s someone else.
Sam Lake:The internet is crazy to begin with!
[He laughs]
Faseli asks, “Do you have a Max Payne shirt and overcoat?”
Sam Lake:Well, the wardrobe of Max Payne did come from my closet.
Sam Lake:No.
I mean, Remedy has them.
They are safe and sound!
[He laughs] But they are in the Remedy archives - all of them.
Have you ever dressed up as Max since (inspired by televizor’s question)?
Sam Lake:I did pick them up and put them on when Max Payne turned 20.
Just for fun, as a celebration, I put them on and we did a small video.
And I got James McCaffrey to say a couple of metaphor-laden, hard-boiled lines about birthdays.
So a lot of people have been asking about a physical release for Alan Wake 2.
What’s going on there - will there ever be one?
What’s the issue?
Sam Lake:We’ve covered pretty clearly, I feel, the situation online.
No firm plan beyond that.
And we will for sure keep everyone posted if that situation changes in some way.
Another issue seems to be the game running at 30 frames per second.
We wanted to focus on making it look gorgeous and making the atmosphere feel really, really good.
And we felt the tempo of a survival-horror game, which is lower than your high octane action game…
Thinking about the benefits there, we felt that this would be a good way to go.
The information is out there, for sure.
Did it have anything to do with having to pull back to make it support Xbox Series S?
Sam Lake:No, not as a starting point.
This decision was clearly made from an overall fidelity perspective - what we can do.
I do think that Thomas also posted a video talking about Series S details and what it means.
DyspraxicEnby asks, “Hi Sam!
Sam Lake:I’m very basic and I’m very old school.
I drink espresso and I drink coffee Americano.
Black, and dark roast whenever I can.
There was an interesting discussion about game preservation with regards to remakes, between Ozyous and The_Ewan.
Sam Lake:Great question; interesting question.
I don’t think it overrides it.
The original exists as much as it does, regardless.
I do think that the great part about remasters and remakes is that they will find a new audience.
So these stories and these experiences can find new audiences.
I don’t think it does anything that would make the original version disappear.
But I feel that I was wrong.
That’s a lovely thought.
Ali Baloch asks, “Where is the world’s greatest literary agent, Barry Wheeler?
Is he OK?”
And then we have plenty of new characters.
The character gallery of Alan Wake 2 is larger than in any previous Remedy game.
We will get a couple of glimpses of what’s going on with Barry as well.
And I don’t want to open it up beyond that.
Likewise, UmbraSight asks, “Will dog Neil be in Alan Wake 2?”
Sam Lake:No.
But there is a dog in this story as well.
The FBI agent comes into this small town community to investigate these ritualistic murders.
Or do it the other way around, or keep on switching between them.
Is there an endpoint in sight or is it alive and in flux?
Sam Lake:It is alive.
It wasn’t out in the open in Control.
Okay, and one final question that made me laugh.
Paul Mcintyre asks, “What’s your favourite lake?”
Sam Lake:[Laughs loudly] Good question!
There are plenty of lakes in Finland…
