Alan Wake is an atmospheric survival horror title that shines with influence from other pieces of media such as Twin Peaks. It was originally released in North America on May 18th, 2010, and now will sadly be removed from all online Stores and Steam on May 15th. Talk about a 7-year anniversary! The reason for this? Expiring music licenses, meaning the game can no longer be sold in its current state.
This was all explained in developer Remedy’s forums. These licensing rules apply to versions of the game available on the Xbox 360 and PC. This means that it will soon disappear from GOG, Steam, and the Xbox store as of May 15th. Good news though- the follow-up game, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is unaffected and remains available. Remedy Entertainment is currently looking into licensing all of the music used, which would mean that its disappearance would be temporary- but the developer does not have a current estimate of when that would be happening, meaning that it could either be a few months, a few years or never at all. Either way- I highly recommend picking up this title before Monday, May 15th, because it is a fantastic experience.
Good news though, starting on May 13th, at 10 AM PT, Steam will have the game on a massive 90% sale, making the price $3 USD instead of $30. This will at least ensure that as many people as possible get the opportunity to experience this fantastic title. Some fantastic news for Xbox One players, though: if the title is picked up on Xbox 360, it is able to run on an Xbox One through the Xbox One’s backward compatibility.
This title will be greatly missed, though lucky gamers who purchase the game before its removal on May 15th, will get to be possibly among the last people to get to experience the game as it is.
