Alan Wake 2 was given a brand-new trailer at yesterday’s PlayStation Showcase that showed off gameplay and a new secondary protagonist Saga Anderson. The short trailer was jam-packed with details, including the reveal of an October 17 release date. After the Showcase ended, information started to trickle out about how developer Remedy Entertainment and publisher Epic Games are handling the release. The most notable piece of info is that Alan Wake 2 will be a digital-only release, meaning anyone hoping to pick up a physical edition to store on their shelves will be out of luck. At least, for now.
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After the news was made public, publisher THQ Nordic took to Twitter to seemingly say that it would be open to helping Remedy and Epic with a physical version of the game. Not only would this give players who want physical copies a way to get just that, but as THQ pointed out on Twitter, it would be something of a “full circle” moment for the franchise.
Back in 2012, THQ Nordic did the disc version of the original Alan Wake on PC. Of course, the publisher has changed quite a bit since then. In 2012, THQ Nordic was simply Nordic Games. It wouldn’t change names until it acquired the THQ brand in 2016. There are several more acquisitions and a parent group that rebranded to the Embracer Group in there, but there’s no need to get into the weeds. The important bit is that the publisher is very different from where it was in 2012. That doesn’t mean they don’t have the ability to do a physical version of Alan Wake 2, but a publisher like Epic Games might not be as interested in dealing with them at this point.
That’s all speculation, though. We won’t know if there’s any hope for an Alan Wake 2 physical version until either Remedy or Epic responds. Neither has said anything publicly yet, and we wouldn’t expect to hear from them unless they do decide to go ahead with THQ’s plan. The good news is that the fans’ push for a physical edition continues to gain traffic on social media. If Remedy and Epic keep feeling that pressure, they may decide to work with THQ or reverse course and do the physical version themselves.
