People that follow Remedy today might not remember there was a time the studio was not the financial powerhouse that can develop six games at once. No, there was a time the studio was struggling to even develop one, and that one game was Alan Wake.
This lead to a great game ultimately having one of the most bizarro tie-ins of the decade. As the titular Alan Wake attempts to escape the Cauldron Lake Lodge later in the game he comes to a waiting room before he can exit the building and enter the hedge maze. Here a TV turns on, but instead of offering the usual twilight zone-inspired show, Night Springs, this one gives you the scariest thing in the game… A VERIZON COMMERICIAL!
While this was not the first or last game of the era to put product placement in it, as a horror game with monsters constantly trying to kill you it definitely felt like the upbeat commercial had no place in the world. What was even worse The flashlight mechanic for the game also had product placement as Alan would only replace the batters if he had a spare energizer battery or two on hand.
Remedy Entertainment has officially been confirmed to Screenrant that the remaster will be scrubbing these features once and for all, cleansing Alan of at least one of the monsters that chase him throughout his journey into the night. Of course, this will not change the story in a way as even though this was built into core gameplay, said gameplay was not changed to make the placement functional.
If you have never played Alan Wake it was an awesome game regardless of what they did to get money. If you’re looking to play it again, or for the first time, you can pick up Alan Wake Remastered on October 5, 2021, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
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Includes several titles.
Which was showcased at E3 2003.