A small film in 2008 would go on to spawn a franchise that's changed the modern cinematic landscape forever. Iron Man was quickly followed by the rest of the origin movies before culminating with The Avengers, impacting cinema in a monumental way by bringing together characters from across the canon and rewarding viewers who took the time to watch every piece of media in the series. This concept of shared universes has now bled into just about every medium, with other film companies attempting to capture the same magic as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and even game developers getting in on the phenomenon. Remedy Entertainment, and its upcoming Alan Wake 2, is just one example of this.
Beginning as simple background references and Easter eggs in the first Alan Wake, Remedy Entertainment has now confirmed that some of its games actually share a universe, potentially opening the door for future team-ups, and shared plot lines. While the potential is certainly there, Remedy hasn't confirmed just how prominent its Connected Universe will be in future titles, such as its highly anticipated next release, Alan Wake 2.
The History of Remedy's Connected Universe
Though Remedy has always enjoyed throwing in Easter eggs and references into its games, Alan Wake took it to another level. Released in 2010, Alan Wake featured some pretty overt references to Max Payne. One of the most obvious references to Max Payne is Alan Wake's most popular fictional creation, Alex Casey, a man who's lost his wife and child and who has a serious painkiller addiction. To top it off, Alex Casey is briefly voiced by James McCaffrey, who voiced Max Payne in Remedy's original games.
However, these references don't mean that Max Payne is a character in the Alan Wake universe, in fact it almost suggests the opposite, that Max Payne is just a fictional creation. But Alan Wake does make some pretty big references to some characters and organizations that wouldn't appear again until 2019's Control. During Alan Wake, players can hear mention of the Federal Bureau of Control, as well as the town of Ordinary, which both play major roles in Control's story. This is the real start of the Remedy Connected Universe.
In 2020, Control received its Expansion 2: AWE DLC, in which Alan Wake plays a pretty important role. This DLC was the first major crossover for Remedy's titles, and soon after its release Remedy's creative director confirmed that the Remedy Connected Universe was an official project, and that future titles would be kept within the same shared universe.
How The Remedy Connected Universe Could Impact Alan Wake 2
After Remedy announced its Connected Universe, it also confirmed that Alan Wake 2 would definitely exist within it. Right now, there's no official word on exactly what this means, or to what extent Alan Wake 2 will bring in external plot points, settings or characters. With this being the first full title set officially within the Remedy Connected Universe, it may make sense for the developer to start off pretty slow, only bringing in elements that have already crossed over in Control's second expansion.
Apparently, Alan Wake 2 is ditching its predecessor's action-focused gameplay, and is instead trading it for full-on survival horror mechanics. While this doesn't immediately fit the tone of Control, the characters, settings, and enemies could definitely make the transition to the horror genre. With Quantum Break being an Xbox-owned IP, it seems pretty unlikely that any of that game's characters or plot lines will show up in Alan Wake 2, and though Max Payne isn't technically owned by Remedy anymore, the developer is currently working on a remake of the first two Max Payne titles, which could retroactively tie those games to Remedy's Connected Universe and thus end up in Alan Wake 2 in some capacity.
Regardless of any crossover characters or settings, it seems pretty likely that Alan Wake 2 will still remain very much a standalone title with its own story. According to recent tweets, the developer has stated that Alan Wake 2 features the most ambitious story it's worked on thus far, with a monumentally large script. It seems as though Alan Wake 2 will be an Alan Wake sequel first and foremost, and an entry in a shared universe second.
Alan Wake 2 is scheduled to release in 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.