Rumours fluttered about last May concerning the future of Alan Wake. Was a sequel destined for the Xbox Live Arcade platform, or was the Alan Wake intellectual property forever lost to wander the vapour-ware woods forever more?
Fans of the brash writer and his spooky literary adventures will be pleased to hear that the cliffhanger at the end of the first Alan Wake may well get an answer in the form of an Xbox Live Arcade game.
Posting on the games official facebook group, Remedy have released the following statement.
“Fans, Alan Wake returns through Xbox Live Arcade! Follow GameInformer.com on Monday for the first screenshot, and the 2011 Spike VGA’s, December 10th, for more information on this Epic Adventure. Are you ready to become the Champion of Light?”
The game is reportedly titled Alan Wake: Night Springs. In the games fiction, Night Springs is a Twilight Zone type show that Wake himself penned the script for, often drawing on horror and science fiction influences. Several short episodes of the show can be watched in game, which is nice because they’re actually quite hilarious.
A leaked screenshot of the games title screen promises an arcade and collectibles, and a link to the marketplace hints at the possibility of more content already planned for the game.
Alan Wake was a critically sound game that unfortunately failed to return much of a profit considering its huge development time. As the financial strains of an ever burgeoning industry begin to take their toll on middle-ground developers it seems that online platforms such as the XBLA, PSN or Steam may well be the new platform of choice for many developers unable to hold their ground in the competitive AAA field.
