Under capitalism, there is an almost comical paradox: you can have a tremendously successful product and still lose money. Selling a lot, receiving praise from critics, and being nominated for game of the year is no longer enough for many video games. They need to break all unimaginable scales to justify their costs. Something that happened to one of the best games of last year: Alan Wake 2.
According to Remedy’s latest financial report, Alan Wake 2 has not yet recouped its development and marketing costs. Having sold 1.2 million copies as of February 2024, it has not been enough to cover the game’s production costs. Even though it brings them close to doing so, as confirmed last month.
All of this leads us to an apparently contradictory situation, but not necessarily negative for Remedy. Their revenues decreased by 22.2% in the final stretch of 2023, but at the same time, Tencent has increased its stake in Remedy to 15% of its shareholding. Something that probably has to do with the fact that they have four games in production. Of which we know all the details of their production status.
The reasons for this monetary failure, at least for now, have contributed to the relatively limited distribution of the game. Having been released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PC, the fact that it was exclusively a digital release and only available on the Epic Games Store may have harmed its sales numbers. This could change if a physical edition is released in the future and/or if it is also released on other digital platforms with a larger user base, such as Steam.
That’s why while Alan Wake 2 is one of the big hits of 2023, it seems that it is still on track to be a resounding success. Something that we have no doubt will end up being, given its high quality and that we will continue to talk about it in the months and years to come. Even if it is a bit demoralizing to discover that it is no longer enough to just succeed. You have to explode the market.
