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"Alan Wake's Return" trademark may hint at long-awaited sequel

alan wake 2 rumors denied
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Quantum Break developer Remedy filed to trademark the name “Alan Wake’s Return” Tuesday, suggesting the developer may have resumed production on a new entry in the franchise.

The patent application comes just over a month before the studio’s upcoming project, the TV-game hybrid Quantum Break, sees wide release. Microsoft, the game’s publisher, announced earlier this month that players who pre-order the game on Xbox One will receive a free download code for the Xbox 360 version of Alan Wake and its post-release DLC, which will be playable on the Xbox One. Pre-ordering the game at certain retailers will also net players a download code for the 2012 follow-up, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare.

Meanwhile, an intrepid NeoGAF user also discovered the studio had discretely purchased the web domain “alanwakesreturn.com” last year. The user also pointed out that the second and final piece of Alan Wake DLC, “The Writer,” ends with Wake typing out the title of a new book called “Return.”

A new Alan Wake sequel seemed less than likely after a report from Polygon revealed that Remedy had created a working prototype for a game they called Alan Wake 2. That sequel was eventually shelved when the studio started working on Quantum Break, and some gameplay elements from the prototype were folded into Alan Wake’s American Nightmare.

That said, the studio has always insisted it would return to the franchise, even as it publicly announced it would no longer be developing the sequel in earnest.

“It wouldn’t have been the sequel that Alan Wake deserves to get,” Remedy creative director Sam Lake said in 2014. “But the possibilities are still out there.”

Now, it seems the studio may be ready to try again. Earlier this month, Lake told a masterclass at the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie in Paris that the studio had been “iterating” on its plan for an Alan Wake sequel in the years since the sequel was shelved.

“I think that it as been, in a way, fortunate,” Lake said during a masterclass at the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie in Paris, “because, you know, we have been iterating the idea of what an Alan Wake sequel could be, and along the way there has been much better ideas that what the concept coming out of Alan Wake was for the sequel.”

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Mike Epstein
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Michael is a New York-based tech and culture reporter, and a graduate of Northwestwern University’s Medill School of…
Alan Wake 2 preload guide: release time, file size, and preorder
Alan Wake stands in front of a movie theater in Alan Wake 2.

It's time to dust off your typewriter, fill up your thermoses with coffee, and dive into your mind palaces because Alan Wake 2 is ready to take us back into the dark and disturbing world of Bright Falls and the Dark Place. Fans have been eagerly awaiting the next chapter in the horror writer's tale for over a decade, and the time to bring all the mysteries to light is nearly upon us. It is quite fitting that this more horror-centric sequel is hitting in the spooky month of October, and now we know precisely when you can join up with Alan and newcomer Saga to hopefully put an end to the evil forces at work. Aside from a flashlight and some fresh batteries, here are all the preload details you need to know for Alan Wake 2.
Alan Wake 2 release time
https://twitter.com/alanwake/status/1715367336956309748?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1715367336956309748%7Ctwgr%5E32782ce1452c87960ab80b088a9d761c97d544aa%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fvideogames.si.com%2Fguides%2Falan-wake-2-release-times-preload

Alan Wake 2 will be released as early as 9 p.m. PT on October 26 and midnight on October 27 on the East Coast, and your local equivalent across the world. The above map shows all the major time zones for you.
Alan Wake 2 file size
According to the PC requirements, Alan Wake 2 needs 90GB of free space, so the game should come in at just about that number. Console file sizes are still unclear, but should be in that same range, so be on the safe side and make sure you have at least 100GB free.
Alan Wake 2 preload options
If you want to get ahead of the game and preload Alan Wake 2 so you can start playing the moment it launches, preloading will become available on October 25, so just one day before the full release in some time zones.
Alan Wake 2 preorder details
If you want to preorder the digital-only Alan Wake 2, you can get either the standard edition with just the game, or the deluxe edition that comes with the expansion pass and some weapon skins and outfits.

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Alan Wake 2’s Sam Lake explains Twin Peaks: The Return’s ‘bold’ influence
Alan Wake stands in front of a movie theater in Alan Wake 2.

Like Twin Peaks’ Dale Cooper trapped in the Black Lodge, Alan Wake has been in purgatory for a very long time.

Wake found himself stuck in the mysterious Dark Place at the end of his first game, and that would become a poetic tragedy. Funding troubles paired with a Microsoft partnership that would complicate the series’ publishing rights would force developer Remedy to move on to new titles like 2019’s Control. Still, writer Sam Lake would sit on an idea for a sequel for over a decade, just waiting for the moment when it could be freed from its own Dark Place.

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Alan Wake.

The original Alan Wake is a game that went through quite a troubled development before it was finally released. After many iterations and changes in scope and direction, the final product was initially a cult hit, but didn't hit the mass market it needed -- at least not initially. After two DLC episodes, a sequel was in the works to build upon the first game and revive some of the elements that had to be cut from the first in order for it to ship, but this was ultimately not meant to be. The sequel was canceled and a smaller downloadable game, Alan Wake's American Nightmare, was released instead.

Since then, we hadn't heard from our intrepid writer until he showed up in a very unlikely place. Featured in the AWE expansion for a completely different game, Control, Alan was back in the picture. With a remaster of the initial game catching everyone up on his first appearance, now was the perfect time to announce that the long-awaited sequel was back in development. We haven't found all the manuscript pages yet, but here is everything we know about Alan Wake 2.
Release date
https://twitter.com/alanwake/status/1692174551466316121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1692174551466316121%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=

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