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NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 08 Jun 2024 18:10:34 +0000
From: Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: I bet Remedy regrets that deal now...
Date: Sat, 08 Jun 2024 14:10:35 -0400
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It's been nine months since "Alan Wake 2" came out, and it still
hasn't made a profit.*

Which is odd, since the game was one of Remedy Entertainment's
fastest-selling titles, and the long-awaited sequel to a beloved game.
It received generally favorable reviews, even if most agree it wasn't
quite as good as the first game. It should have put Remedy into the
black on day one. What went wrong?

Well, exploding development costs probably didn't help (a problem
faced by developers across the industry) but I think the biggest
problem is that Remedy -thanks to their publishing deal with Epic-
limited the release to Epic Games. The game still isn't on Steam, and
there have been no publicly announced plans on when -or even if- it
will ever make it that platform. The last we heard was on the matter
was that the Epic Games store exclusivity deal would be for "a long
time". There are so many comments by fans that are along the lines of,
"well, it looks interesting and I want to play it, but I think I'll
wait until it's on Steam".

Epic probably hoped "Alan Wake" would drive more people to its
platform; that "Alan Wake" might be a showcase game for its digital
storefront, sort of like "Half Life" was for Steam. But it doesn't
seem to have worked out too well for either Epic or Remedy.
Indications are that most of the sales of the game were on consoles;
PC gamers apparently weren't convinced to switch platforms. And now
Remedy is paying the price.

Which is a real shame, since I /like/ Remedy. Partly, it's because of
their history (they're born from the demoscene, with their founding
members coming from FutureCrew!) but mostly because I like their
games. They're a mid-tier developer that produces top-tier games. You
can see their demoscene ancestry in their games, though; their
products tend to push the envelope in terms of technology, and the
focus on artistry tends to trump both gameplay and monetization (The
Scandinavian influence is pretty obvious too). 

But this focus on product over sales has probably cost them; it's no
wonder they've had to rely on publishers like Microsoft and Epic to
fund their games development. But Remedy's deal with the latter may
run the company into the ground, and that would be a loss to the
industry as a whole. Presumably at the time the bargain with Epic was
struck, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but maybe Remedy
should have known better. 

Numerous developers have reported that there is a significant spike in
sales once their exclusivity deal with Epic has ended. PC gamers see
the Epic storefront as a negative, not a benefit, and have repeatedly
shown a willingness to patiently wait it out until the game shows up
on other digital marketplaces. I'm not sure why Remedy thought their
game would be any different.

Of course, you could argue that people like me -folk who refuse to buy
the game on Epic- are the real problem; that if we really care about
supporting quality games (and the developers who produce them) we
should just pony up and buy "Alan Wake" regardless of what platform
it's on. But I just don't like doing business with Epic, and that
-unfortunately- means no sale. But were the "Alan Wake 2" on Steam,
I'd buy it in a heartbeat. 

But Remedy is, sadly, stuck with their current publisher and that
publisher has said, "No Steam release for this game", even if it costs
the developer its much-needed success. At the time, the deal probably
looked pretty good, but I bet Remedy is regretting that partnership
now.




* so says this article
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/alan-wake-2-hasnt-turned-a-profit-6-months-after-release-and-theres-no-steam-release-in-sight-but-remedy-says-its-in-control/