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Message: [QUOTE="Queen, post: 85068, member: 27"] 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 [LIST] [*]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. [/LIST] Then the money vibes got weird [LIST] [*]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. [/LIST] Why do people think it stalled [LIST] [*]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. [/LIST] The debate gets reignited online [LIST] [*]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. [/LIST] Epic versus Steam talking points [LIST] [*]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. [/LIST] Douse drops the nuclear take [LIST] [*]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. [/LIST] Remedy jumps into the replies [LIST] [*]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. [/LIST] Cold reality check on sales [LIST] [*]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. [/LIST] What they probably regret instead [LIST] [*]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. [/LIST] Why this sequel still matters [LIST] [*]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. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]

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