Coming fast off the release of the time-traveling shooter Quantum Break, Remedy already has a fairly good idea of what’s next. The company is working on two new AAA games, but neither of them are the Alan Wake sequel fans have been asking for.
Speaking with Polygon Thomas Puha, head of communication for Remedy, explains that while they aren’t quite down with Quantum Break, still working on a Windows 10 patch for the game, “When you are an independent company like Remedy with 130 people, there needs to be a next project.”
Business Director Johannes Paloheimo states, “We finally have two teams, which has been a long-time goal for Remedy and we definitely want to make more games. We don’t want to take five years to ship a game. It’s been a long process, trying to transition into a two team studio, but now we can make more games faster and diversify both financially and creatively.”
With that in mind, Remedy has set their sights on two games. Though the developer is cagy with the details, the first is a new IP and is in active development with a publishing partner other than Microsoft. Meanwhile, the second game is in the concept stage, doesn’t have a publishing partner yet, and Remedy won’t even say if it is a new IP. They will say however, it is definitely not Alan Wake.
Paloheimo continues, explaining Remedy has learned a lot from their past games and wants to go in a new direction. The developer thinks the key is “focusing on certain things and really doubling down on certain things without spreading ourselves too thinly.”
Beyond that, Puha adds, “We’re not abandoning story and the narrative. We want to focus on what we are great and known for. We need to become better at incorporating new things, seeing where the market is going, seeing what players want to play more and then bringing that into the narrative experiences we are known for.”
But that can often be a difficult sell. “The problem with single-player games is that we take so long to build an experience and then once we release it that experience is over quite fast. That’s a dilemma.” In the case of Quantum Break, they tried to counteract this by building in player choices.
In trying to add replayability, Paloheimo says, “We’re also trying to break out of genres and reach out to new audiences.”
What would you like to see Remedy tackle next? Are you sad it won’t be Alan Wake 2? Let us know in the comments.