Remedy acquired the rights to Alan Wake from Microsoft in 2019, setting all of this in motion.

If anything, we grew more determined as years passed,' Lake continues, adding that 'Alan Wake 2 is finally happening based on our latest iteration of the concept, and not the ones that came before that.' It's likely little of that original prototype remains in the game that is being developed today. But getting a large game project funded and greenlit is a complex effort that depends on many things, some of which are beyond our control. 'For over a decade, after Alan Wake, in between every project we have made, I have eagerly worked on Alan Wake 2 with a small core team, dreaming up different incarnations of the concept. But Lake never abandoned this world, even as Remedy turned its attention to other corners of the universe. Remedy later released a video of the prototype (opens in new tab), confirming that elements of it ultimately ended up in Alan Wake's American Nightmare – a standalone, downloadable story that launched in 2012. The studio pitched a follow-up shortly after Alan Wake released in 2010, but Xbox didn't bite, forcing the team to move on. A sequel never seemed certain, if at all likely. Sam Lake and Remedy Entertainment walked a long and winding road to get here.

Alan wake 2 xbox 360