Remedy defends Epic as Alan Wake 2 causes Steam fanboy rage

A prestige horror hit crushed awards, stalled at the checkout, sparked a platform flame war, and forced its own studio to jump into the replies.

The launch glow was very real

• Back in late October 2023, Alan Wake 2 landed to serious applause.
• Review scores came in hot, awards piled up at The Game Awards 2023, and Remedy called it their fastest-selling release ever.
• By February 2024, sales passed 1.3 million copies, which looked solid on paper.

Then the money vibes got weird

• After that early spike, momentum fizzled.
• By late November 2024, Remedy Entertainment told investors the game still had not paid back development and marketing.
• That only flipped in February 2025, once sales finally crossed 2 million and royalties kicked in.

Why do people think it stalled

• Fans and devs started circling the same two explanations.
• No physical edition at launch, which only showed up a year later.
• PC players are being locked to the Epic Games Store instead of Steam, which a lot of players still refuse to touch around Epic exclusives.

The debate gets reignited online

• This week, the whole thing flared back up thanks to Michael Douse from Larian.
• It kicked off after Dave Oshry remarked that free Epic giveaways can actually lift Steam sales.
• That comment pulled in Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, who defended platform choice and tossed shade at Valve.

Epic versus Steam talking points

• Sweeney claimed Epic sits at roughly 55 to 60 percent of Steam’s userbase.
• He argued Epic reinvests revenue into free games rather than yachts.
• The core pitch was that more options help everyone, devs and players alike.

Douse drops the nuclear take

• Douse responded by pointing straight at Remedy.
• He argued Epic exclusivity pushed Alan Wake 2 into what he called a financial crisis.
• His estimate suggested Remedy missed potentially hundreds of millions by skipping Steam.

Remedy jumps into the replies

• Instead of staying silent, Remedy answered him directly.
• The studio said there would have been no Alan Wake 2 at all without Epic funding.
• They stressed the publishing deal was very fair and wrapped up unusually fast.
• The message was blunt. Epic was an excellent partner, Steam or no Steam.

Cold reality check on sales

• Remedy also pushed back on the idea that Steam would have magically fixed everything.
• The first Alan Wake sold similar numbers without any storefront drama.
• Underperforming sales are kind of a pattern for the studio, aside from Control, which sits in a friendlier genre.

What they probably regret instead

• If there is any real facepalm moment internally, it is likely FBC: Firebreak.
• That project gets framed as the bigger misstep compared to the storefront strategy.

Why this sequel still matters

• The sequel existing at all was never guaranteed.
• The fact that it turned out great kept the Remedy Connected Universe alive.
• That universe keeps rolling this year with CONTROL Resonant, built on a lower budget and aiming to hit profitability faster.