Remedy didn't want to give Alan Wake to them for whatever reason. very sad to read
Some people actually like to own the things they created... I will forever be sad about the fact that Remedy sold Max Payne. They needed the money, probably, but still. That is sad.
As a huge fan of Max Payne 1 and 2 I think Remedy has gone down since. Alan Wake disappointed me for being much different from what they promised at first, but I enjoyed it a lot anyways. Quantum Break is just... okay, I guess?
They spoke about that in the article. They won't show their games too early anymore. Lesson learned there. Things change, and game development is very stormy ship. Rarely the original vision is what devs release. So many ideas has to be abandoned, and then the "fans" scream for blood because devs "lied" to them.
I prefer when developers own their IPs. At least there is hope for an Alan Wake 2 eventually but Quantum Break is just dead.
Too bad for them that the whole TV experiment didn't work but I rather have the game we end up with instead of an episodic one.
The thing with the Remedy is that they always try to make more than games. Since the first Max Payne they have been trying this cross-media thing. The culmination point was with Quantum Break. They exhausted that route, Sami has said that in an interview.
And in the article this OP is about. MP with comics, AW with books and finally QB with a TV series. And they always have strived for that cinematic way of making games. Not in the "look all these cutscenes and press one button every second hour" but their games as a whole try to reach for the movie world. In my opinioin, that is one of the things that set Remedy apart.
And again, they learned a lot about those games. One of the things they learnt is that they need to make games ready faster. They will no more spend so much time with a game. They will go AA route instead of big blockbuster AAA route.
I have to respect Remedy for daring to be themselves and doing what they want. As an indie dev company, they have the freedom to do what they want. Alan Wake and Quantum Break wasn't flops for Remedy (might been for Microsoft, but they an take the hit), again Sami said that in one interview. They made enough money to go separate ways with Microsoft. Again, they partnered with MS because MS was willing to pay them for the games Remedy wants to make.
People may forget that it was not Microsoft that forced Remedy to make the game like they made them, Remedy wanted that.
I hope that Remedy stays far away from Sony exclusivity... Yäk.
They've made plans to sustain themselves making games for every platform, that Korean (?) shooter (?) SP story is a fine example. Take a contract, make it well and earn money to make something your own. Like Platinum, I think?
