Video Games
Latest Remedy Financial Report States ‘Alan Wake II’ Has Recouped Almost All Development Costs
Way back in August, Remedy had revealed in its financial report that Alan Wake II, despite all of its acclaim and awards, had yet to turn a profit for the developer. Flash forward to the latest financial earnings report, and things are a little better, as Alan Wake II has nearly recouped its development and marketing expenses.
While it’s still a ways off from finally giving the developer some earnings, there’s still good news as a whole for Remedy. The report highlights revenue growth of 128.6% between July and September 2024, generating €17.9 million compared to 2023’s €7.8 million in the same period. That in turn offsets the increased development fees, which were primarily driven by a Control 2 related one-time payment from Annapurna (which is working with Remedy to bring Alan Wake and Control to TV and film), as well as higher development fees from the in-development Max Payne 1&2 Remake and Control 2.
Remedy CEO Tero Virtala also reported that the recently-announced FBC: Firebreak continues in full production “with a focus on iterating on the core loop and implementing more of the UI (user interface) for more player clarity based on playtesting feedback.” Control 2 meanwhile has progressed well in the production readiness stage and is slated to start full production next year. “Many of the critical features of the game have been implemented to mitigate production risk, and workflows and pipelines are being tested in preparation for full production.”
Alan Wake II should be getting a boost in sales (and revenue) from the recently-released final DLC “The Lake House”, which is available as part of the Alan Wake II Deluxe Edition upgrade on PC via the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series.
Video Games
Bloody Body Horror Revealed in ‘Stellar Blade: Blood Rain’, Currently in Development [Trailer]
Shift Up has shifted things dramatically from 2024’s action-adventure game Stellar Blade, offering up a body horror bonanza in the newly announced sequel, Stellar Blade: Blood Rain. The sequel is currently early in development, but if the trailer is any indication, players will be in for plenty of body horror.
Continuing the story from the original Stellar Blade, Blood Rain will star a new protagonist named Eve. Earth has been abandoned, and what is left of humanity has fled to a Colony in outer space.
Shift Up had mentioned during a Q&A following its latest earnings presentation last month that development on Blood Rain (which was still unannounced at the time) was progressing smoothly, and was on track to meet their targeted quality standards.
Shift Up stated that with this new title it would be transitioning to a first-party service model, effectively moving away from the restrictions the game experienced with original publisher Sony, which had the game under an exclusivity agreement for the PlayStation 5. “This will allow us to lead marketing strategies that fully reflect the distinctive identity of the Stellar Blade IP, and we expect to communicate the unique appeal of its universe to players more directly and effectively.”
Whether this means that Xbox Players will finally be able to play the original game (or its sequel) is still not clear. Meanwhile, Stellar Blade is reportedly being ported to the Nintendo Switch 2, but no official confirmation has been made.