'Alan Wake' Sells 4.5M Copies, Sparks Sequel Rumours

Xie Enwei, General Manager Of Management And Operations Of Microsoft In China, Speaks During The Presentation Of The Xbox One — IN PHOTO: Xie Enwei, general manager of management and operations of Microsoft in China, speaks during the presentation of the Xbox One by Microsoft as part of ChinaJoy 2014 China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference in Shanghai July 30, 2014. Reuters/Carlos Barria

Fans of the survival horror genre should be well versed with the "Alan Wake" franchise. The moody and extremely atmospheric games in the series have been inspired by Stephen King's novels, and they amply pepper the narrative with plenty of references to the same. Almost five years after the first game in the two-game franchise was released, the series has reached a new sales milestone. "Alan Wake" and its 2012 sequel "Alan Wake's American Nightmare" have cumulatively sold a total of more than 4.5 million copies till date.

The CEO of studio Remedy Entertainment – a developer that is also known for the Max Payne games – made the announcement through a Twitter post. This was preceded by Microsoft's recent survey asking users if they would be interested in an "Alan Wake" remaster for the Xbox One, as noted by IGN. This development has sparked rumours regarding a much-awaited sequel by Remedy for the critically acclaimed survival horror series. However, Gamespot believes that won't be the case because the developer is already caught up with its next game.

Remedy Entertainment is currently working on "Quantum Break," which is slated to hit the Xbox One sometime in 2015. In 2014, a Polygon report had cited the developer, who had dismissed any immediate plans for the sequel. Apparently, the critical and commercial success of the first two games had created an opportunity for a "less ambitious" sequel, but the developer instead decided to hold back until the time was right to create a more fitting successor to the franchise.

Remedy Entertainment's "Alan Wake" came as a major surprise to fans. No one had expected a survival horror game from the developer, especially on the heels of the critically acclaimed "Max Payne" series of third-person shooter games, which incorporated the highly entertaining bullet time mechanic from the "Matrix" films.

"Alan Wake" was initially stuck in development hell, with the developer eventually dropping its grand plans of a "Grand Theft Auto" style sandbox experience for a more linear final avatar. "Alan Wake" was initially released as an Xbox 360 exclusive in 2010, but a PC version soon followed within the same year. The game was lauded by critics for its extremely atmospheric survival horror setting and some fresh new gameplay ideas.

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