Alan Wake II

Alan Wake II is a 2023 survival horror game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Epic Games Publishing. A sequel to Alan Wake, the story follows best-selling horror novelist Alan Wake, who has been trapped in an alternative dimension for 13 years, as he attempts to escape by writing a horror story involving an FBI agent named Saga Anderson. The game was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 27 October 2023.

Gameplay
Compared to the first Alan Wake game, which was an action adventure game with horror themes, Alan Wake II is a survival horror game played from a third-person perspective. Players play as Alan Wake or Saga Anderson in two separate single-player stories, which can be played in any order the player chooses; although the opening sequence and ending sequence of the game can only be played as Saga and as Alan, respectively.

Wake and Anderson traverse environments and fight enemies using various firearms and a flashlight, the latter of which can be "focused" to render enemies vulnerable to firearm attacks. Focusing the flashlight drains its battery, and players need to strategically use a limited amount of batteries and ammunition in order to survive. When enemies are close, Alan or Saga can perform a dodge maneuver.

Alan Wake II incorporates detective elements: when playing as Saga, players can always pause the gameplay to access an enemy-free space dubbed the "Mind Place". Described by Remedy as a "3D menu", the Mind Place is a visual representation of Saga's thoughts. In the Mind Place, players manage a pin board in which they can connect clues to piece together the main mystery, as well as profile characters to gather clues.

A returning element from Alan Wake is manuscript pages: players find pages of a manuscript that foreshadow upcoming events in the story. Unlike the previous game, Alan Wake II features a dialogue tree system.

Release
In July 2018, Remedy CEO Tero Virtala stated that any further sequels to Alan Wake would require Microsoft Studios' approval as the publishing rights holder, though Remedy otherwise owns all other IP rights to the series. In July 2019, Remedy fully acquired the rights to Alan Wake from Microsoft, including a one-time royalty payment of about €2.5 million for the game series' past sales, which helped pave the way for a sequel.

In 2020, it was announced that Remedy had signed with Epic Games Publishing for the release of two games. Remedy released Alan Wake Remastered in October 2021 as the first game of this partnership, while the triple-A game was revealed to be Alan Wake II when the game was officially announced at the Game Awards 2021. Free downloadable content packs and two paid expansions, titled Night Springs and Lake House, will be released after the game's initial launch.

In May 2023, it was announced that Alan Wake II would be a digital-only release, with Remedy rationalizing that many players had already shifted to only buying games digitally, so they wanted to ensure the game maintains a low price, and they didn't want it to require a separate download even if a physical version was released. In August 2023, the release of the game was delayed by ten days to 27 October in order to avoid competition from other games.