Development on Alan Wake has been a long, slow journey but Remedy lead writer Sam Lake says that’s because the studio is “not a factory” and is taking its time to ensure things are done right.
Alan Wake was announced all the way back in 2005 but since then Remedy has been surprisingly quiet about the game’s development. Aside from a few trailers released over the years the studio has offered the gaming public little more than occasional assurances that it is in fact still working on the game. But Lake says there’s a good reason for the drawn-out development cycle: Quality takes time.
“Remedy is not a factory,” Lake told Joystiq. “We take our time and try out different things until we feel have found the right combination and a good balance for the game.”
“We have been in the fortunate position where we’ve had time to do research and do prototypes… keep the quality bar high and explore, until we find the right combination of different elements,” he continued. “Things have evolved along the way. This is an action game, but there is a lot of variety.”
Alan Wake has a long way to go before it’s in the league of the ultimate delayed-into-nothingness game Duke Nukem Forever, but concerns that it could end up the same way might be exacerbated by Remedy’s close association with 3D Realms. Ironically, Remedy’s last game, Max Payne 2, contains a joking reference to 3D Realms and the overlong production of DNF, which had already been in development for six years when Max Payne 2 was released – in 2003.
