Remedy Entertainment revealed that Alan Wake 2 will be a digital only release across all platforms.
In a frequently asked questions page on the Alan Wake website, Remedy explained, “There are many reasons for this. For one, a large number of have shifted to digital only. You can buy a Sony PlayStation 5 without a disc drive and Microsoft’s Xbox Series S is a digital only console. It is not uncommon to release modern games as digital-only.”
Remedy continued by saying that not releasing a disc helps keep the price of the game at $60 on console and $50 on PC. The studio didn’t want to want to ship a disc and have it require a download for the game either as it wouldn’t be a great experience. There are also currently no plans to produce a physical copy of Alan Wake.
Alan Wake 2 FAQ. The game is digital only due to a large number of people shifting to digital only and helps keep the price at $59.99/$49.99. They also do not want to ship a disc that requires a download https://t.co/bCWQToOlLT pic.twitter.com/RX54tqfoE3
— Wario64 (@Wario64) May 24, 2023
Since the standard version of the game is kept at a lower price point, the digital Deluxe edition will cost $70. It includes the expansion pass containing the Night Springs Expansion and Lake House Expansion, a parliament shotgun skin and celebrity suit for Alan, as well as a nordic shotgun skin, crimson windbreaker, and lantern charm for Saga.
Those who preorder the game wll receive the ornate revolver skin for Alan and survival resources pack for Saga.
It’s interesting to see some publishers refuse to increase their prices on new releases, as others like Nintendo and Microsoft did with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Redfall, respectively. However, those two games also were available in physical discs.
Alan Wake 2 launches on October 17 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.
When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey