Alan Wake 2 continues to be a success for Remedy, with the company reporting today it has recouped "most" of the development and marketing cost of Alan Wake 2 as of the end of September.
Unfortunately, it's not just an Epic Games exclusive, it's actually published by Epic Games. Which means it probably won't ever come to Steam.
The rest of the Alan Wake franchise (and the Control franchise, including the upcoming Control 2) are published by 505 Games or Remedy themselves, so those all get Steam releases.
It sucks because i'd love to get my hands on the Alan Wake remaster and Alan Wake II on steam if they put it on there, if only so i can have easier integration with Steam's QOL features. Maybe one day Remedy will pull what they did with the OG Alan Wake when they bought the publishing rights from Microsoft and buy the Publishing rights to Alan Wake II from Epic
What? Surely seeing something popping up on steam and buying it happens far more than someone spontaneously buying a game in a store when walking around town/ a mall.
Maybe I'm a recluse, but I can't remember last time I went into a store that stocks a meaningful amount of games other than second hand shops. Are physical games really that large of a margin anymore?
Remedy games have been "underperforming" despite rave reviews for a while. Yet they've been chugging along doing what they think is neat, instead of caving into the current money-making models.
And in this case, the Epic partnership definitely hurt the game. And they know it did. Before AW2, it was microsoft putting the breaks of Quantum Break despite it being great.
Control was the first time since Max Payne I felt they truly achieved the success that their level of quality deserves (and even then it was a timed epic exclusive).
Now Remedy has set themselves up to finally self-publish the follow-up to Control. I can't wait.
Remedy has fans, but something always seems to get in the way.
It's published by Epic (Control was published by 505). Unless Epic significantly compromises on their insistence of pushing the Epic store, it wont happen.
Bit of awkward phrasing, but the commentator was not talking about Steam exclusivity - rather having it available on Steam (in addition to wherever else it was available).
Clearer wording may be "if only it had been on Steam".
AAA title Published by Epic Games, doesn't use unreal engine, mega-chad move.
I can see them in the future publishing it on steam as it has no integration into epic in any technical way. Epic will want to recoup their costs though by optimizing the release window for steam so expect it (if at all) to have a steam release when control 2 lands.
I found the pacing of the first few chapters in the first Alan Wake sublime, in terms of storytelling. The gameplay frustrated me on the other hand, became quickly monotonous and tedious for me. So I only played like a third of the game, much as I liked the story and was curious to see where it went. Then Control I was left completely unmoved by. So I’ve been hesitating to take up the second Alan Wake, basically because I didn’t much like the first iteration, or Control, which I’ve heard is somehow connected. Maybe I’m missing out. Or maybe these games appeal only to a certain audience.
I thought the story of Control was just ok but the gameplay was awesome.
It didnt land on my Top 25 list BUT....that one level (people who played it know exactly which I mean) was easily one of the best sequences I've ever played. I have no idea how they made it feel like you were still in control (hehe) as everything around you went crazy.
Unfortunately that level is very late in the game otherwise I'd implore you to stick it out to see it. But since you quit so early because you weren't having fun, you probably will continue to not have fun until that part.
Another great game ruined by gamers' insistence on dick riding Gabe Newell and always giving Valve a 30% cut, no matter what.
Will anyone self reflect on whether they're being a dumbass and hurting the entire gaming industry by insisting on only using Steam cause that's all they've ever used?
No. They'll yell at Epic and Remedy for not wanting to give 30% of their revenue to Valve.
I can barely run steam and the games I bought on steam at the same time, which is required for most games. Steam disabled certain features and bloated the software -- their launcher takes more resources than actual games. AAA games. (From a decade ago, but still.)
Other launchers might be garbage but the bar seems to be pretty low. Only thing anyone can say is "get a better computer" because in their mind that is a great rebuttal to "why is a game tied to a launcher which takes up 4x as many resources as my entire OS?"
If I buy the game on Epic, I'm given no assurance that the game will continue to work for me on Linux. Others will have different issues with the service that Epic offers. I'm not going to buy from Epic just because Valve has reached some threshold of market saturation.
I hear what you're saying, but gamers in this thread (and every thread), are demanding that it come out on Steam, not on GOG, which makes them a huge part of the problem.
Lock in exists partially because gamers have lionized Valve for throwing them trinkets and refuse to use anything else, while Valve has designed their platform around a mandatory launcher and done what they can to lock players into it.