Remedy: Microsoft doesn’t want to make Quantum Break or Alan Wake sequels

Papacheeks · Jul 18, 2018

Doukou said:
Maybe Remedy doesn't want to sell it?

Yet Epic sold gears? An IP worth a fuck-ton more? Remedy as a studio isn't in the greatest of positions financially. Making some kind of deal with MS should be on the cards especially after 2 games. MS doesn't want anything to do with the IP's or projects. Which is a shame since it's a game series that can reach a bigger audience similar to how evil within has become a cult classic among people who like resident/silent hill type series.

blessedhorus said:
Are people genuinely upset they wont be getting these two games or is it just more chances to take shots at MS/Xbox?

Alan wake was a great game, the second one was alright even though it was much smaller scale. But ALan wake could have been Microsoft's resident evil/silent hill if they gave a shit. But instead funded a mediocre Max Payne game with a mediocre time story/gameplay that got old after a while.

QB could also be a series that has potential. Both those could if treated right. I honestly believe MS should have found a way to buy remedy, looking at remedy's new game CONTROL it looks like QB with a more realized story.

Shpeshal Nick · Jul 18, 2018

Sounds about right.

Alan Wake was incredible so I still really want a sequel.

Quantum Break was massively squandered potential so hopefully they give it another chance eventually.

Doukou · Jul 18, 2018

Papacheeks said:
Yet Epic sold gears? An IP worth a fuck-ton more? Remedy as a studio isn't in the greatest of positions financially. Making some kind of deal with MS should be on the cards especially after 2 games. MS doesn't want anything to do with the IP's or projects. Which is a shame since it's a game series that can reach a bigger audience similar to how evil within has become a cult classic among people who like resident/silent hill type series.

Why does Epic selling Gears mean Remedy wants to sell Alan Wake?

jelly · Jul 18, 2018

I dunno about those two IPs, Remedy weren't exactly knocking it out the park. Alan Wake was okay, Barry was the best but I think there wasn't a lot to it and very hammy which didn't always work. American Nightmare was a chore.

Remedy are doing decent stuff but I don't think either really warrant another shot over doing something new. It's not like mechanics were awful and sequel improves on it. The issue was more the idea. A writer can only get into so many situations of creative game play before you start venturing into a whole other game play realm that would be better in a new IP.

There is an argument sequels improve massively on the original that it's worth giving it another go but I don't feel the original games have an interesting enough base to build on that would be fun to play.

Papacheeks · Jul 18, 2018

Doukou said:
Why does Epic selling Gears mean Remedy wants to sell Alan Wake?

Alan Wake like gears when everything was said and done did alright, just needed some nurturing to turn it into a great franchise, but MS didn't want to. Remedy is not the most efficient studio, but they have talent. They need in my opinion guidance as a studio and would have been a great addition to MS. Even so MS didn't see the value in Alan wake to want to own it or continue their partnership with them.

TreeMePls · Jul 18, 2018

Papacheeks said:
Yet Epic sold gears? An IP worth a fuck-ton more? Remedy as a studio isn't in the greatest of positions financially. Making some kind of deal with MS should be on the cards especially after 2 games. MS doesn't want anything to do with the IP's or projects. Which is a shame since it's a game series that can reach a bigger audience similar to how evil within has become a cult classic among people who like resident/silent hill type series.

Epic sold Gears because they wanted nothing to do with the standard AAA dev cycle anymore. Remedy does, so I don't see why they'd sell it in the off chance they could work on it in the future

Doukou · Jul 18, 2018

Papacheeks said:
Alan Wake like gears when everything was said and done did alright, just needed some nurturing to turn it into a great franchise, but MS didn't want to. Remedy is not the most efficient studio, but they have talent. They need in my opinion guidance as a studio and would have been a great addition to MS. Even so MS didn't see the value in Alan wake to want to own it or continue their partnership with them.

What does any of this have to do with what I said? I'm not denying the possibility that MS just doesn't want it, but to act like it is the only definite answer is silly. It's possible Remedy just doesn't want to sell it.

Deleted member 25721 · Jul 18, 2018

PositiveGamer said:
What? Hahahahahahah

Gears, cool. Halo, been meh for a long time now. Forza, don't care for. And on top of all that, if I want any microsoft "exclusives" I'll buy them on PC.

Remedy is a third party. They can develop games for whoever they like. Was that not clear enough?

X1 Two · Jul 18, 2018

Mercenary09 said:
Yep pretty much. This is why I say screw Microsoft and Phil Spencer. They are so out of touch with what their fans want. Instead here have some more Halo, Gears, and Forza and this bland open world game with Terry Crews. Give me a break..

Yes, so stupid of them to take sales as a metric for success and not social media.

Bung Hole · Jul 18, 2018

X1 Two said:
Yes, so stupid of them to take sales as a metric for success and not social media.

Social media doesn't play a role in gauging the success of a product or service?

X1 Two · Jul 18, 2018

Bung Hole said:
Social media doesn't play a role in gauging the success of a product or service?

No, because typically those that are not happy are much more vocal than those that are happy. It's a vocal minority that wants Alan Wake 2 or Shenmue 4 or Japan in Forza Horizon.

BDubsLegend · Jul 18, 2018

I think Microsoft is rightly moving away from OP's they don't own. It doesn't make good sense to invest in these Ips because if they get big they just will go multiplatform. MS needs to be able guarantee a steady stream of games that they can call their own.

Bung Hole · Jul 18, 2018

X1 Two said:
No, because typically those that are not happy are much more vocal than those that are happy. It's a vocal minority that wants Alan Wake 2 or Shenmue 4 or Japan in Forza Horizon.

Era is a vocal minority in the grand scheme of things and yet it's enthusiast gaming forums that shape the future of console gaming.

X1 Two · Jul 18, 2018

Bung Hole said:
Era is a vocal minority in the grand scheme of things and yet it's enthusiast gaming forums that shape the future of console gaming.

Yeah, no. The only thing that is shaping the future is pricing and what prices and features the mass market wants.

rusty chrome · Jul 18, 2018

Will buy Control on PS4 to support them. Remedy has cool ideas and I appreciate the risks they take.

Bung Hole · Jul 18, 2018

X1 Two said:
Yeah, no. The only thing that is shaping the future is pricing and what prices and features the mass market wants.

Yeah mass market didn't ask for downsampling, cross play, backwards compatibility, mod support etc.
The mass market didn't ask for backwards compatibility in Xbox One yet we have that now. Mass market doesn't care about cross play yet all you hear in Era is this feature and more and more devs are wanting to do cross play now.

Whether you like it or not, on gaming enthusiast forums, of which we are the vocal minority compared to the casual gamers out there, our voices are getting heard loud and clear by the console manufacturers.

Deepthought_ · Jul 18, 2018

Did it sell well ? Must have bombed

X1 Two · Jul 18, 2018

Bung Hole said:
Yeah mass market didn't ask for downsampling, cross play, backwards compatibility, mod support etc.
The mass market didn't ask for backwards compatibility in Xbox One yet we have that now. Mass market doesn't care about cross play yet all you hear in Era is this feature and more and more devs are wanting to do cross play now.

Whether you like it or not, on gaming enthusiast forums, of which we are the vocal minority compared to the casual gamers out there, our voices are getting heard loud and clear by the console manufacturers.

Work on BC started before all the talk on social media. Because Microsoft has an interest in adding value to your digital library. BC is essential to people opting into digital sales.

Bung Hole · Jul 18, 2018

Deepthought_ said:
Did it sell well ? Must have bombed

No idea. I for one would have loved an Alan Wake sequel. One of the defining games of the Xbox 360 generation. Perhaps the ideas remedy had in mind for a sequel didn't jive well with Microsoft. Either way this is disappointing news. The IP had some great potential.

rapid32.5 · Jul 18, 2018

Jom said:
Control is basically a QB sequel and AW was terrible anyway.

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Fisty · Jul 18, 2018

Yeah AW didn't really seem to fit with MS's approach when it released, maybe it was just in dev for a while and started from a different initiative. Maybe MS just wanted another Max Payne. QB was likely greenlit because of the TVTVTV "media convergence" pitch.

Control looks good though, hopefully they can catch a pub's eye. They have a lot of talent. Obvious Sony speculation for AW2: eh it could work, but they would need some support. Maybe XDev or GG? Or Supermassive assist? Would be neat to see an Until Dawn crossover lol. I'll take an Alan Wake port tho

Yearsoflurking · Jul 18, 2018

Remedy owns the AW IP, makes sense why ms doesn't want to waste money on an ip they dont own. QB seems to have had an ridiculous expensive bloated dev cycle, can't blame ms for not wanting to continue a failed expensive franchise. I said this for a while, I'll say it again I actually think remedy needs a culture change.

Edit: i guess they have had an culture change we will see how it goes i suppose

dragonbane · Jul 18, 2018

Mercenary09 said:
Regardless, my point stands that they have shown time and time again that they will give things another chance that maybe didn't set the world on fire. Microsoft sadly doesn't and hasn't shown they are willing to foster new IP.

That's only really the case with their internal studios and even then if one of them produces several games in a row that neither perform critically nor commercially well they are at risk of getting shuttered, see Evolution. They get multiple chances, but not infinite attempts. With their external partners Sony has gotten even more strict, either only giving them a single chance or 1.5 chances. 1.5 being that if your big game fails, you only get smaller budgets and need to redeem yourself with smaller titles or you get dropped. Ready at Dawn proved themselves with smaller titles, but only got a single AAA attempt. Until Dawn didn't bomb, but it didn't perform well enough to greenlight a sequel asap, instead Supermassive got smaller budgets and titles, most of which failed so I wouldn't be surprised if Sony dropped them already. Insomniac had a rough time on PS3 at the end, but proved themselves with the Ratchet remake and thus likely were allowed to continue with Spiderman. If Ratchet failed they might have canned it. If Spiderman fails (which it won't ofc), they would probably be back on Ratchet. Detroit does pretty great in sales, but if it isn't enough to please Sony I wouldn't be surprised if they even pulled out of Interactive Drama entirely.

Sony doesn't strive for giant profit margins, but unlike some of their claims they are seemingly not okay with an under-performance either.

Mercenary09 · Jul 18, 2018

X1 Two said:
Yeah, no. The only thing that is shaping the future is pricing and what prices and features the mass market wants.

Someone please tell this person that the "mass market" didn't ask for mod support, backwards compatibility and many other things this generation. Mass Market doesn't dictate everything. You clearly haven't followed this industry very long.

Mercenary09 · Jul 18, 2018

dragonbane said:
That's only really the case with their internal studios and even then if one of them produces several games in a row that neither perform critically nor commercially well they are at risk of getting shuttered, see Evolution. They get multiple chances, but not infinite attempts. With their external partners Sony has gotten even more strict, either only giving them a single chance or 1.5 chances. 1.5 being that if your big game fails, you only get smaller budgets and need to redeem yourself with smaller titles or you get dropped. Ready at Dawn proved themselves with smaller titles, but only got a single AAA attempt. Until Dawn didn't bomb, but it didn't perform well enough to greenlight a sequel asap, instead Supermassive got smaller budgets and titles, most of which failed so I wouldn't be surprised if Sony dropped them already. Insomniac had a rough time on PS3 at the end, but proved themselves with the Ratchet remake and thus likely were allowed to continue with Spiderman. If Ratchet failed they might have canned it. If Spiderman fails (which it won't ofc), they would probably be back on Ratchet. Detroit does pretty great in sales, but if it isn't enough to please Sony I wouldn't be surprised if they even pulled out of Interactive Drama entirely.

Sony doesn't strive for giant profit margins, but unlike some of their claims they are seemingly not okay with an under-performance either.

The only one of those that Sony dropped was Ready at Dawn. Supermassive going from Until Dawn to those other games had nothing to do with Until Dawn sales. Sony needed someone to make some VR titles for them and they are a great partner. The only thing they did wrong was work on too many things at the same time of which I think they've learned and they since have been hiring for new projects already. I won't be surprised to find out whatever it is is exclusive to PlayStation again. Insomniac has been a partner of Sony since the PS One. One game performing badly wouldn't change that. Want proof? Look at the Resistance franchise specifically Resistance 3. It didn't perform well and yet Sony has worked with them since on two Ratchet games and now Spider Man. You don't seem to realize that Sony has always cared about having a diverse portfolio of games and they will continue to work with these developers to achieve that even if every one of them isn't a hit.

Raider34 · Jul 18, 2018

They know Microsoft got the check book open and know they aren't funding ips they don't own I feel remedy is basically saying buy us Microsoft

Dr. Caroll · Jul 18, 2018

Conor419 said:
So what? Nintendo don't own Bayonetta, is that stopping them from funding a high-quality exclusive IP in a niche genre to fill a void in their own library? Of course not, Nintendo are a competent publisher, who actually have a culture of game development.

There are some significant differences between Bayonetta and Alan Wake. Alan Wake is kind of expensive to make. It's a cinematic, story-rich third person shooter with top notch production values. Bayonetta? Not so much. You don't see Nintendo making games like Alan Wake, do you? They're very expensive and one of the biggest problems is that games like Max Payne and Alan Wake were never super long. Max Payne 2 is about 6 hours long. The modern market demands 15-40+ hours. A 10 hour long experience like Alan Wake struggles to sell in the modern market, particularly if it's linear and therefore has the perception of "no replay value".

Control seems to be pivoting away from the traditional formula that Remedy themselves kinda pioneered with Max Payne in the first place. Control seems to be longer and less linear. Which should hopefully help it. If Microsoft ever commission Alan Wake 2, and I hope they do it at some point, the game would need a structural rethink to make it appealing to the kind of people who rejected Quantum Break for being too linear and too short.

Conor419 said:
Remember Fable? I don't.

Not sure what you mean by this. It's all but confirmed Fable 4 is in development. Do you consider that a good or a bad thing?

Deleted member 2083 · Jul 18, 2018

Deepthought_ said:
Did it sell well ? Must have bombed

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/alan-wake-sales-reach-4-5-million-as-xbox-one-rumo/1100-6426167/

The Alan Wake action-horror series has now sold more than 4.5 million copies since it arrived on the scene in 2010, up from 3 million in May 2013. The CEO of developer Remedy Entertainment, Matias Myllyrinne, announced the new sales figure on Twitter earlier today.

That number includes sales of the original game and its 2012 sequel, Alan Wake's American Nightmare.

This was as of March 25, 2015.

TheBeardedOne · Jul 18, 2018

I get not wanting to make a Quantum Break sequel. That doesn't need one. It was also more of a movie or TV show than it was a game. When there was gameplay, that was fun, but there wasn't a lot to it. (I'm saying this as someone who enjoyed it, but doesn't need more.)

Alan Wake on the other hand...come on, Microsoft!

Bruceleeroy · Jul 18, 2018

Continuum said:
MS did good here. There's no reason to make a franchise out of those weak IPs.

I didn't love QB but Alan Wake was fantastic and has some of the best atmosphere of a game ever.

Memento · Jul 18, 2018

They should get Sony on the phone.

Remedy games shares a lot of design philosophies with Sony's AAA output. They would probably fund an Alan Wake 2 quality pitch.

Ascenion · Jul 18, 2018

Memento said:
They should get Sony on the phone.

Remedy games shares a lot of design philosophies with Sony's AAA output. They would probably fund an Alan Wake 2 quality pitch.

Sony really isn't big on funding IP they don't own (sunset overdrive). Spider-Man being an exception because they'd be stupid not to.

Gamer17 · Jul 18, 2018

Memento said:
They should get Sony on the phone.

Remedy games shares a lot of design philosophies with Sony's AAA output. They would probably fund an Alan Wake 2 quality pitch.

Yea sony usually wants to own the IP. There are exceptions like sf5 and spiderman but there are few

Memento · Jul 18, 2018

Ascenion said:
Sony really isn't big on funding IP they don't own (sunset overdrive). Spider-Man being an exception because they'd be stupid not to.

Gamer17 said:
Yea sony usually wants to own the IP. There are exceptions like sf5 and spiderman but there are few

That is true.

Nothing holding them back on publishing the new IP Alamo Waken though :P

Deleted member 679 · Jul 18, 2018

What I don't get is what does Remedy gain by owning a dead IP? If the only thing stopping them from getting a good deal on this game is ownership of the IP, why not sell it?

Gamer17 · Jul 18, 2018

Memento said:
That is true.

Nothing holding them back on publishing the new IP Alamo Waken though :P

Yea exactly.just like sony owns demon souls and bloodborne but from made dark soul as multiplat IP and owns it. So they could sell Adam waken lol to sony and keep Alan Wake.

Ascenion · Jul 18, 2018

Memento said:
That is true.

Nothing holding them back on publishing the new IP Alamo Waken though :P

I get why they do it though. For example imagine if Microsoft had owned Mass Effect or owned Gears from the start.

That plus I think not owning Spyro and Crash probably taught Sony a lesson.

Memento · Jul 18, 2018

Ascenion said:
I get why they do it though. For example imagine if Microsoft had owned Mass Effect or owned Gears from the start.

That plus I think not owning Spyro and Crash probably taught Sony a lesson.

Yup

Bung Hole · Jul 18, 2018

Mercenary09 said:
Someone please tell this person that the "mass market" didn't ask for mod support, backwards compatibility and many other things this generation. Mass Market doesn't dictate everything. You clearly haven't followed this industry very long.

Bro that's what I been trying to tell him. No disrespect to him but clearly the evidence is there for all to see.
Can also add that I'm sure the mass market didn't ask for Shenmue remaster but yet that's what we are getting.

Deleted member 18347 · Jul 18, 2018

Bruceleeroy said:
I didn't love QB but Alan Wake was fantastic and has some of the best atmosphere of a game ever.

Alan wake's atmosphere is severely undermined by its boring overall game design structure.

I know people throw around the term repetitive with reckless abandon, but AW's gameplay is truly repetitive and just brings the whole thing down.

And even then I don't think the atmosphere is even up there with some of the best. AW is my type of game from one of my favourite studios, but it's just... not that good.

HellofaMouse · Jul 19, 2018

Gamer17 said:
Who the hell says no to Alan wake 2 ? My favorite 360 game . Hope sony green lights Alan wake 2 with an Alan wake remaster on ps4.

oh man. alan wake remaster + aw2 would be the dream. regardless of the platform.

vidaisonline · Jul 19, 2018

Daisya · Jul 19, 2018

Bulby said:
Dissapointing. MS' reluctance to nurture IPs that dont sell 5 million out the gate is the biggest reason why there is such a gap between them and Sony right now.

I think a lot of people who say silly things like "QB bombed so why bother" don't understand this simple fact lol.

Deleted member 16039 · Jul 19, 2018

"Alan read the last page and all of the sudden..."

horkrux · Jul 19, 2018

Comments saying "Sony would have funded this" are baffling to me. They dropped The Order 0815 like a hot potato. They also dropped Until Dawn and DriveClub.
Remedy had two chances to deliver and both times development seemed to have been overly long and the result not as profitable as expected, yet expensive to make. Like.. these weren't some AA projects or something, they were games to rival the likes of Uncharted etc.

Deleted member 679 · Jul 19, 2018

vidaisonline said:

So you're saying there's a chance?

WITHE1982 · Jul 19, 2018

I'd love to see a sequel to Alan Wake, although chances aren't great given the lukewarm reception it received. It was probably my No1 game on 360.

Guess the closest we'll come is the leaked concept vids which looked pretty good IMO.

I'm a patient man though Remedy. I can wait...

Rad · Jul 19, 2018

I really enjoyed Alan Wake but if there was a sequel the gameplay should be totally different. That was its weak point. Atmosphere was one of the best in gaming history though.

ResilientBanana · Jul 19, 2018

Angst said:
Microsoft should give their studios a little more freedom.

They did and the games didn't sell well.

vidaisonline · Jul 19, 2018

Gbraga said:
So you're saying there's a chance?

hahaha we're saying what we've said previously, like people have pointed out in this thread: microsoft owns the quantum break IP, we own the alan wake IP. if the opportunity is right, we'd love to come back to alan wake at some point (it's very near and dear to all of us at the studio, as you can imagine!), but - we're working on control and crossfire right now.

we do feel the alan wake love, though. we're very grateful for that. we hope people will be just as passionate about our future releases, too.

Remedy: Microsoft doesn’t want to make Quantum Break or Alan Wake sequels

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