Alan Wake 2 – forget the serial killers and monsters, Alan Wake 2 being digital only is the scariest part (Picture: Remedy)



Remedy has undermined its Alan Wake 2 launch date announcement by revealing that it’ll only be available as a digital download.



One of the bigger reveals at last night’s PlayStation showcase was a gameplay trailer for Alan Wake 2 , which also confirmed its October launch date – just as one of its voice actors predicted.



Starring Wake himself, and new protagonist Saga Anderson, the two embark on their own journeys involving a serial killing and a horror story come to life. Despite the nightmarish premise, this game is a dream come true for fans who’ve been waiting since 2010 for a new Alan Wake adventure.



However, the excitement quickly turned sour in the wake of the trailer as developer Remedy admits that Alan Wake 2 will only be available as a digital download.



There are also no plans for a physical release, so this isn’t a Metroid Prime Remastered situation where it’ll launch digitally first and then as a boxed release later on.



As for why this is the case, Remedy’s reasons are threefold. First is the uncomfortable truth that more and more people are moving towards buying their games digitally.



Not to mention the industry is unsubtly trying to drag us into an all-digital future with Sony and Microsoft’s current consoles offering cheaper digital-only hardware.



Remedy also argues that not releasing a disc version saves money and means they don’t have to make the game more expensive to buy. For the record, Alan Wake 2’s standard edition costs £39.99 on PC and £49.99 on consoles.



A deluxe edition that comes with an expansion pass and some extra cosmetics is being sold for £54.99 on PC and £64.99 on consoles.



The third and final reason is that Remedy didn’t want to ship a physical version that would still require a digital download, like some modern games do.



‘We did not want to ship a disc product and have it require a download for the game – we do not think this would make for a great experience either,’ says Remedy .



Despite Remedy’s best efforts to spin this decision as a positive, Alan Wake fans are clearly angry and disappointed with the decision. Some are even swearing off the game entirely.





I would bet lunch that @SamLakeRMD and Remedy wrestled with this decision A LOT. I get why they did it, but it’s still going to be a tough pill to swallow for the many gamers who either prefer to buy physical games and/or have slow internet/data caps. https://t.co/a3mw0F49Y4 — Ryan McCaffrey (@DMC_Ryan) May 25, 2023







🚨 Alan Wake 2 is digital only and will not launch on a physical disc. Please know that I won’t buy your game if you don’t release it in physical version. pic.twitter.com/CSEerglhZ9 — Julien  (@MajorDcp) May 24, 2023







I really don’t buy the excuse for being digital only with Alan Wake 2 Feels like they just want as many people buying from Epic Game Store as possible and maybe you’re more likely to get it on PC if there’s no physical version Sucks — Jon Cartwright (@JonComms) May 24, 2023







Alan Wake 2 looks so goddamn gorgeous, but the digital-only release is a major deal breaker for me. I hope people call this out, because this is something that can be normalized if it isn’t stopped, especially for preservation. pic.twitter.com/k8WXD7myqX — BluePhoenix (@benoski73) May 25, 2023







Alan Wake 2 being Digital Only literally just stabbed me in the back. Physical is not dying and you know it. — DragonSlayer Productions (@DragSlayerVlogs) May 24, 2023







Alan Wake 2 being digital only seems like a strange decision. “PS5 has a discless console and so does Xbox” But what about those of us who bought a disc based console *for* physical media? — fat_moogle (@JustAMoogle) May 24, 2023







Alan Wake had one of my favorite collector’s edition, and 2 being digital only is a serious bummer. pic.twitter.com/RtGtw3XnUR — Ben Feldman (@realbenfeldman) May 25, 2023





There’s no telling if this will have any meaningful impact on the game’s sales, but it’s another blow against game preservation efforts.



It’s also easy to imagine it wasn’t really Remedy’s choice and that the decision was made by publisher, and Fortnite creator, Epic Games.



Let’s also not forget that the original Alan Wake was struck from digital stores due to expired music rights; if the same ever happens to Alan Wake 2, then it’ll become completely inaccessible to anyone who hasn’t already bought it.



Alan Wake 2 launches for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC on October 17.









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