Alan Wake 2 hasn’t recouped development costs despite being one of 2023's best games

For many, Alan Wake 2 was the surprise of 2023. The game proved that Remedy's storytelling genius is only just reaching its peak, and as the company gets more comfortable intersplicing real footage with gameplay, it's clear that Remedy still has the chops to turn the gaming industry on its head.

It turns out that reinventing how video games can be made and presented doesn't pay all that well to begin with, as even though Alan Wake 2 was a critical darling and won over fans everywhere, it hasn't exactly made bank.

Alan Wake 2 still hasn't earned back its budget

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Even in spite of being an award-season corker and fans falling head-over-heels for it, Alan Wake 2 reportedly still hasn't made back the money it spent producing the game in the first place.

A new statement from Remedy Games has revealed that even though its last count stacked up to 1.3 million copies of Alan Wake 2 sold, and the game standing as the fastest-selling Remedy game in history, it has "recouped a significant part of the development and marketing expenses." It's important to note, "A significant part," not all.

Remedy has other avenues to make money from the game, like licensing crossovers with Fortnite and Dead by Daylight helping the process along, especially as Alan Wake 2 has a firm deal with Epic Games on a wider scale.

Still, it's still pretty shocking that given Alan Wake 2's success, it hasn't yet made all of its money back. It does bear the question - if one of 2023's narrative giants can't justify itself in this long on the market, what's it like for other companies waging war against the cost of living?

There's still plenty of chance for Alan Wake 2 to justify itself financially. There are DLC packs in the works, as evidenced by Sam Lake sharing images from his last day of filming, and Remedy still has Max Payne remakes and Control sequels and spin-offs for the company to produce.

At 10.8 million euros in revenue last quarter, serving as a huge 56.2% increase, Remedy is still doing very well in spite of the gaps. Don't panic - Remedy isn't shutting up shop just yet.