Max Payne Remakes Have Same Budget as Alan Wake II

Alan Wake II was a huge hit last year, thanks to its horror elements mixed with never-ending action sequences. Remedy Entertainment, who currently owns the IP, is happy with the reception they got with Alan Wake II, but now there is another project they are currently looking forward to bringing. Conquered the action genre back in the early 2000s, Max Payne is no doubt one of the milestones when it comes to the importance of storytelling and excessive narration.

Players had some bond with Max; the story was told through his perspective, and ultimately, everyone had to listen to his pain and suffering; that’s what made him more likable as a character. Since the series is quite crucial even to this day, Remedy decided to remake the first two games from scratch and “wake” up one of the best games from its era. Although this decision came out of the blue, most people knew Remedy could handle the remake, and Alan Wake II’s success showcased the possibilities of how old Remedy could unite with the new Remedy and ultimately bring the best experience any Max Payne game could ever give.

There is one small detail about the Max Payne games that they were published by Rockstar Games on the consoles- at some point, Rockstar helped develop the third game as well. Once the remake was announced, Rockstar was nowhere to be seen, and as it turns out, Remedy was planning to publish the game themselves. Seems like this decision was altered, as Rockstar has recently hopped into the hype train and decided to fully fund Remedy in their mission to remake the first two Max Payne titles.

The decision might seem great at first since Rockstar is currently seen as a multi-billion dollar company with immense earnings from just the GTA V alone. But taking a step back and looking at what Rockstar themselves have funded to be a great cause makes the current picture rather understandable. Rockstar Games’ last big release was the remaster of 3D GTA games, including III, Vice City, and San Andreas. Without any hesitation, Rockstar backed up Grove Street Games, who botched ports and remakes quite numerous times.

You might say this is Remedy we are talking about, but Remedy is no short of failure either. In a current interview with the CEO of Remedy, they stated that Remedy lost a hefty chunk of revenue due to their poor decisions. Control and Alan Wake II might have done well, but they also invested in rebooting one of the old multiplayer games from the past and failed to bring a solid title until the due date, diving down into the losses rather than profits gained.

Nevertheless, Max Payne 1 and 2 Remake is still being developed with a slow pace and care; with Rockstar’s funding and Remedy’s intent to create the remakes as polished as Alan Wake II, we can expect to see a solid entry to the remakes category.