With the Summer Game Fest show over, it's now all about those Play Days. A handful of developers from Remedy's Alan Wake 2 development team are in Los Angeles with a thirty-minute, hands-off demo of the game and brand-new information to share. As the demo is taking place, Sam Lake (Creative Director and Lead Writer), Molly Maloney (Principal Narrative Designer) and Kyle Rowley (Game Director) have been spending time with reporters, talking about their next adventure.
Similar to our preview wrap-up, this page will be updated with new interviews as they're made available. In the meantime, check out our list below:
I'm already team Saga and Alan Wake 2 isn't even out yet
GamesRadar+ (by Sam Loveridge)
Interview with Sam Lake
"Sam Lake has been pondering an Alan Wake game with two protagonists since making Quantum Break, but Remedy's creative director appreciates now how momentous an occasion introducing Saga Anderson is. For Alan Wake 2, we'll have two playable heroes, spending just as much time playing as the new co-protagonist as we do the titular writer. "
Read the full interview with Sam, HERE!
Alan Wake 2 is Channelling LA Noire and Sherlock with the Mind Place and it's glorious
GamesRadar+ (by Sam Loveridge)
Interview with Molly Maloney
"You'd think that the fact you'll spend a lot of Alan Wake 2 not playing as Alan Wake would be the most surprising thing about Remedy's ambitious new survival horror game. But, having seen 30 minutes of Saga Anderson doing her FBI investigator thing, it turns out Alan Wake 2 is doing far more than just adding a new face to proceedings. With Saga comes a bunch of new gameplay mechanics to complement the genre shift. As an FBI investigator arriving in Bright Falls to investigate mysterious ritualistic murders, she brings with her years of investigative and criminal profiling experience. That includes an all-important Mind Place, which, if you're a Sherlock fan, you'll be correct in thinking sounds a lot like the Mind Palace."
Read the full interview with Molly, HERE!
Alan Wake 2 Interview: 'True Detective was definitely on our mind'
Video Game Chronicle (by Andy Robinson)
Interview with Kyle Rowley & Molly Maloney
"After being treated to a 30-minute demo during which we saw the game in action, we sat down with co-director Kyle Rowley and principal narrative designer Molly Maloney to talk about how Alan Wake 2 differs from its predecessor, and how they feel about the recent announcement that Spider-Man 2 will be released just three days later. They also explained how the character-switching mechanic and discussed the Mind Place, the interesting hub area where players controlling new character Saga can piece together the ongoing investigation."
Read the interview with Molly and Kyle, HERE!
Alan Wake 2 Interview with Sam Lake & Kyle Rowley
Danny Peña
Sam Lake answers the biggest Alan Wake 2 question: What happened to his layers?
PC Gamer (by Wes Fenlon)
Interview with Sam Lake & Kyle Rowley
"Tragedy has befallen Alan Wake. When Alan Wake 2 begins, the horror writer has been missing for 13 years, lost in "the Dark Place," an alternate dimension of no-good, very bad vibes. Alan Wake was a talented horror novelist, and I think the first game ended with him writing himself out of our reality to keep the Dark Place at bay? Honestly, it's also been 13 years since I've played Alan Wake and I remember precisely three things about that game: Stephen King references, shining my flashlight at shadowy figures, and Alan Wake's clothes."
Read the interview with Sam and Kyle, HERE!
(New!) Remedy says there's no "right or wrong way" to play through Alan Wake 2's dual storylines
GamesRadar+ (by Josh West)
Interview with Sam Lake, Molly Maloney, and Kyle Rowley
"Alan Wake 2 has been designed as a psychological horror story told from the perspective of two playable characters. Naturally, you'll be able to spend time with celebrity writer Alan Wake, who has spent the last 13 years as a prisoner of the Dark Place beneath Cauldron Lake – fighting to retain his sanity and write a novel that would sufficiently change reality so that he can escape to those he left behind. But that's not the only web you'll be untangling on October 17."
Read the interview with Sam, Kyle, and Molly, HERE!
(New!) Remedy promises that Alan Wake 2 will have "more variation" in story and combat than its predecessor
GamesRadar+ (by Josh West)
Interview with Sam Lake, Molly Maloney, and Kyle Rowley
"Alan Wake 2 is the first survival horror game from Remedy Entertainment. It's a creative departure which has had major ramifications on every aspect of this long-awaited sequel: combat, pacing, story, structure, and tone. Creative director Sam Lake says that the genre switch was ultimately born out of a simple desire: 'We wanted more variation.'"
Read the interview with Sam, Kyle, and Molly, HERE!
(New!) ALAN WAKE 2: L'ORRORE DI REMEDY NON HA MAI PUNTATO COSÌ IN ALTO
Everyeye.it (reporting by Ilaria "Sam" Gentili)
Interview with Sam Lake and Kyle Rowley
"Osservare in azione Alan Wake 2 equivale alla visione di un film di stampo arthouse. Del sottogenere horror, nello specifico. Pellicole in cui la sperimentazione è sovrana della scena, ricca di simbolismi e immagini dallo stile estetico profondamente ricercato. I momenti più orrifici di Alan Wake 2 sono un susseguirsi di scenografie che si sovrappongono, cromatismi che si impastano e si confondono, visioni che si rincorrono e inebriano la percezione del giocatore. Un incubo interattivo che recupera la lezione del maestro Lynch e all'onirismo aggiunge un guizzo di violenza."
(Google Translate) "After having witnessed 30 minutes of gameplay of Alan Wake 2 (here's our preview of Alan Wake 2), we had the opportunity to delve into the distinctive elements of this ambitious production of Remedy, in the company of Creative Director Sam Lake and Game Director Kyle Rowley. A quick but exhaustive chat, in which the two developers were able to reveal some intriguing details about the game's sources of inspiration, the dynamics of the transition between Saga and Alan and the exploratory freedom granted by the experience. Without further ado, we leave you to their words."
Read the interview with Sam and Sam (and Kyle), HERE!
(New!) Alan Wake 2, A Look At Remedy's First Survival-Horror Game
Game Informer (by Brian Shea)
Interview with Sam Lake and Kyle Rowley
"The road to Alan Wake 2 was full of speed bumps involving publishing rights and finding the right ideas, hence the 13-year gap. "We've been trying and now finally everything just clicked into place," co-director Sam Lake says. "We got the publishing rights of the original game back, so we were in a position to create a remastered version for the PlayStation audience as well as a wider audience. And we were trying to do Alan Wake 2 before we went and created Control. And so there was a concept. It's not this concept; it was different, and we felt that it doesn't quite feel like Alan Wake, but maybe cool ideas on this kind of almost superhero action and is more kind of a nonlinear game. We took those design ideas and we created Control."
Read the interview HERE (archived)!
(New!) After 13 years, Remedy's dream of Alan Wake 2 is real – and it's really going for it
GamesIndustry.biz (by Christopher Dring)
Interview Sam Lake and Kyle Rowley
"Remedy's last game, Control, was a real breakout hit for the developer. Released in 2019, the action adventure attracted ten million players and plenty of critical praise. So the smart business play would be to double down and immediately begin work on a sequel. But Remedy didn't do that. Although more Control is coming, the Finnish studio has chosen to do something decidedly more risky and build a sequel to its 2010 Xbox game, Alan Wake."
Read the interview with Sam and Kyle, HERE!
(New!) You can thank Alan Wake 2 for Quantum Break and Control, says Remedy
GamesRadar+ (by Josh West)
Interview Sam Lake and Kyle Rowley
"At this stage, it shouldn't surprise you to learn that the worlds of Alan Wake 2 and Control have collided. The Remedy Connected Universe may have only become public knowledge in 2020, when the AWE Expansion put Jesse Faden on a collision course with the incident in Bright Falls, but this concept of a wider universe is something leadership at Remedy has been thinking about for far longer. In fact, it's the studio's enduring efforts to get Alan Wake 2 off the ground which ultimately led to the creation of games like Quantum Break and Control."
Read the interview HERE!
(New!) Alan Wake 2 - Sam Lake & Molly Maloney On Returning To The Franchise & Gameplay Horror Inspirations
Shacknews
Interview with Molly Maloney & Sam Lake
(New!) Alan Wake 2 Q&A – Devs Confirm 20 Hours Length, Aren’t Concerned with October’s Competition
wccftech (by Kai Powell & Alessio Palumbo)
Group interview with Thomas Puha
"The thirty-minute hands-off presentation was guided by Thomas Puha, Communications Director at Remedy Entertainment, and the same individual that helped field a group Q&A session shortly thereafter. Alan Wake 2 opens not as the titular main character but with the new character, Saga Anderson from the FBI, whose campaign makes up the other half of the playable duo."
Read the full group interview, HERE!
(New!) Alan Wake 2 Devs Tease “Plenty of Material” For the Remedy Connected Universe
Inverse (by Hayes Madsen)
Interview with Sam Lake and Kyle Rowley
"There are some wildly ambitious ideas at play in Alan Wake 2 as well, like a “Mind Place” that co-protagonist Saga can jump into at any time where she’s able to profile suspects and piece together clues on an evidence board, furthering the interconnected story. Inverse had the chance to sit down with Remedy creative director Sam Lake and Alan Wake 2 game director Kyle Rowley, learning about everything from how the sequel’s dual protagonists play off each other and what Remedy universe fans might have in store."
Read the interview with Sam and Kyle, HERE!
(New!) Alan Wake 2 is True Detective Meets Resident Evil | Summer of Gaming 2023
IGN (by Daemon Hatifield)
Interview with Kyle Rowley and Molly Maloney
Eurogamer by Chris Tansell
Interview with Sam Lake & Kyle Rowley
(New!) After 13 years, Remedy's dream of Alan Wake 2 is real – and it's really going for it
Interview with Sam Lake & Kyle Rowley
(New!) Alan Wake 2 harkens back to Max Payne in the most interesting – and typically Remedy – way
Interview with Sam Lake & Kyle Rowley
Read the full interview, HERE!
(New!) Why Sam Lake is happy that Alan Wake 2 took over 10 years and “four failed attempts” to get right
Interview with Sam Lake & Kyle Rowley
(New!) Kaleidoscopes, cigarettes, and hair gel: How Remedy achieved Alan Wake 2's live-action "stylisation"
Interview with Sam Lake
"At this point, live-action sequences are a defining feature for Remedy games. Think of 2016's Quantum Break, which placed 25-minute TV episodes between each chapter of the game. Remedy dialled it back in Control stylishly, where live-action footage was blended on top of game footage.
