Alan Wake 2 Releases October 17 for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC

Remedy Entertainment confirmed Alan Wake 2 will release on Oct. 17 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC.

If you haven’t kept up with Alan Wake 2 you can find the official overview below.

A string of ritualistic murders threatens Bright Falls, a small-town community surrounded by Pacific Northwest wilderness. Saga Anderson, an accomplished FBI agent with a reputation for solving impossible cases arrives to investigate the murders. Anderson’s case spirals into a nightmare when she discovers pages of a horror story that starts to come true around her.

Alan Wake, a lost writer trapped in a nightmare beyond our world, writes a dark story in an attempt to shape the reality around him and escape his prison. With a dark horror hunting him, Wake is trying to retain his sanity and beat the devil at his own game. 

Anderson and Wake are two heroes on two desperate journeys in two separate realities, connected at heart in ways neither of them can understand: reflecting each other, echoing each other, and affecting the worlds around them. 

Fueled by the horror story, supernatural darkness invades Bright Falls, corrupting the locals and threatening the loved ones of both Anderson and Wake. Light is their weapon—and their safe haven — against the darkness they face. Trapped in a sinister horror story where there are only victims and monsters, can they break out to be the heroes they need to be? 

Solve a Deadly Mystery 
What begins as a small-town murder investigation rapidly spirals into a nightmare journey. Uncover the source of the supernatural darkness in this psychological horror story filled with intense suspense and unexpected twists. 

Play As Two Characters 
Experience both Alan Wake’s and Saga Anderson’s stories and see events unfold from different perspectives. Switch between Anderson’s life-or-death race to solve the case and Wake’s desperate attempts to rewrite his reality to escape the depths of the Dark Place. 

Explore Two Worlds 
Experience two beautiful yet terrifying worlds, each with its own rich cast of characters and deadly threats. Discover majestic landscapes of Cauldron Lake in the Pacific Northwest and the idyllic towns of Bright Falls and Watery. Contrasting sharply, attempt to escape the nightmarish cityscape of the Dark Place. 

Survive With Light 
With limited resources, take on powerful supernatural enemies in desperate close-combat situations. It takes more than just a gun to survive: light is the ultimate weapon in the fight against the darkness and will be your refuge when enemies threaten to overwhelm you.

PlayStation Store

In addition to the new trailer and release date, a substantial FAQ was released that confirms a number of interesting details.

What is the release date of Alan Wake 2?

Alan Wake 2 will be launching globally on October 17, 2023.

What platforms is Alan Wake 2 being released on?

Alan Wake 2 will be available digitally for PC on the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

What is the story of Alan Wake 2?

Saga Anderson, an FBI profiler with a reputation for solving unsolvable cases, arrives in Bright Falls to investigate a string of ritualistic murders. The case slides into a nightmare when Anderson discovers pages of a horror story, a horror story that starts to come true…

​Alan Wake, a lost writer trapped in a nightmare prison beyond our world, writes a dark story to shape reality in a desperate bid to escape. Hunted by an insatiable horror, Wake struggles to retain his sanity and beat the devil at his own game.​

Anderson and Wake, two heroes on two desperate journeys. Two separate realities connected in ways neither of them can understand. Echoes become reflections. Reflections that can reach out to each other.​Trapped in a horror story where there are only victims and monsters, can they break out to be the heroes they need to be?

Do I have to have played the original Alan Wake to fully understand Alan Wake 2?

Alan Wake 2 is a sequel but set up as a stand-alone experience. Newcomers can enjoy the thrill-ride with no past knowledge of the previous game. For the returning fans there are tons of lore and connections to be discovered.

Do I have to play Control or Control’s AWE expansion to better understand Alan Wake 2?

No, you do not. However, for fans who are into the universe of Alan Wake, it’s definitely recommended, but it’s completely optional.

Why is Alan Wake 2 a digital-only release?

There are many reasons for this. For one, a large number of have shifted to digital only. You can buy a Sony PlayStation 5 without a disc drive and Microsoft’s Xbox Series S is a digital only console. It is not uncommon to release modern games as digital-only.

Secondly, not releasing a disc helps keep the price of the game at $59.99 / €59.99 and the PC version at $49.99 / €49.99.

Finally, 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.

Is there a disc-based version of Alan Wake 2 in the works?

There are currently no plans to release Alan Wake 2 on disc.

What different versions of Alan Wake 2 will be available?

Standard Edition: Includes the Alan Wake 2 digital base game.

Price: $49.99 / €49.99 / £39.99 on PC and $59.99 / €59.99 / £49.99 on Consoles

Deluxe Edition: Includes the Alan Wake 2 digital base game and the following exclusive content:

• Expansion Pass (Night Springs Expansion and Lake House Expansion)
• Nordic Shotgun Skin for Saga (Part of the Expansion Pass)
• Parliament Shotgun Skin for Alan
• Crimson Windbreaker for Saga
• Celebrity Suit for Alan
• Lantern Charm for Saga

Price: $69.99 / €69.99 / £54.99 on PC and $79.99 / €79.99 / £64.99 on Consoles

Pre-order bonuses

If you pre-order Standard or Deluxe Edition, you will receive the following digital pre-order items:

• Ornate Revolver Skin for Alan
• Survival Resources Pack for Saga

What languages and localization does Alan Wake 2 support?

Subtitles and voice over (VO)

English, French, German, Iberian Spanish and Japanese

Subtitles only

Italian, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Ukrainian.

Will Alan Wake 2 have post-launch support? 

Yes! We will be supporting Alan Wake 2 post-launch with both free content as well as two paid expansions. The expansions are called Night Springs and the Lake House, but that’s all we are going to tell you about them. For now.

What is Alan Wake Remastered?

Alan Wake Remastered is a (wait for it) remastered version of the original Alan Wake (2012 PC version). For fans of the original, it’s a new refreshing experience of the game they love. For newcomers, it’s a great way to experience the classic Alan Wake on new platforms taking advantage of next-generation technology.

The remastered version contains the original game as well as The Signal and The Writer DLCs, which were originally sold separately, but are part of the Alan Wake Remastered package. The main game contains a brand-new developer commentary track from game’s writer and Creative Director Sam Lake that fans will not want to miss.

What is the story of the first Alan Wake?

Thirteen years ago, Alan Wake, a bestselling writer, together with Alice Wake, his photographer wife, came to idyllic Bright Falls, a Pacific Northwest small-town, for a vacation to fix their marriage and overcome his writer’s block.

There is an opening to the Dark Place, a nightmare reality, under Cauldron Lake. With Alice held hostage by a supernatural entity called the Dark Presence, Wake was forced to write a horror story to set the Dark Presence free. The Dark Place has the power to make fiction come true and rewrite reality. The Dark Presence infected numerous people and turned them into murderous Taken.

Using light as his weapon, Wake fought the Taken. He found a way to write a new ending to the story to destroy the Dark Presence. He rescued Alice but was himself trapped in the Dark Place.

What game engine is Alan Wake 2 running on?

 Alan Wake 2 uses Remedy’s Northlight engine.

Tell me more about this Northlight?

Northlight is a focused, state-of-the-art game engine and toolset developed by Remedy Entertainment, empowering our games now and in the future.

Northlight’s plugin-based tools framework and adoption of USD (Universal Scene Description) enable our game development teams to customize their tools and content pipelines to suit their needs. The game runtime is aimed to perform well with ever-expanding virtual game worlds by having a modern and efficient game object model and a GPU-based geometry rendering pipeline.

We strongly believe in the freedom of developing our in-house technology with selected partners, ensuring we control our entire tech stack. Our creative and technology teams closely collaborate to create features that get players excited and make Remedy’s games stand out from the crowd.

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