How Alan Wake Failed Commercially

We take a look at the numerous reasons for Alan Wake's less than impressive sales at retail. The game's sales are comparable to those of hardcore games on the Wii, apparently.

[NYC_Gamer]

it was just another victim of hype

[JsonHenry]

It failed cause it went head to head with RDR.

[badz149]

but can't honestly say that it was not hyped because they did show it at E3 09 - the biggest gaming event on the planet and 360 fans went crazy for it! hyped about almost everything from graphic to the smallest details! so, yeah, with THAT kind of hype, it's expected to sell more but it didn't! no wonder M$ is still unsure to fund for the sequel.

[MEsoJD]

I would of gotten it on the PC.

Sucks for them : /

[SOAD]

I dislike how the first 4 or 5 commenters have absolutely nothing of value to add to the discussion, yet for whatever reason they have received multiple agrees.

On-topic, it is a shame that Alan Wake did not perform well commercially, but as a gamer I am more disappointed in the game itself.

The sales don't mean shit to me. What does bother me is certain aspects of the game were annoying and repetitive. I thought the combat mechanics could be fleshed out more. For example, I would prefer that Alan had more weapons at his disposal than just a pistol and light sources. I also didn't find the game to be very scary or even disturbing or unsettling. The environments were well designed but Remedy under-utilized them.

Maybe the problem is that the game's genre doesn't match my tastes, but in truth I am a fan of Stephen King. I like a lot of his works, even lesser known novels like "Desperation."

I think Remedy made a few missteps. They need to regard the combat mechanics as being important. I can't spend the entire game fighting the same dark, faceless enemies while I scour the areas for pages from a manuscript. There needs to be more suspense and enemy variety. I would really love to see some more WTF moments" in the game.

Overall, Alan Wake is a good game but it's one of those games where you need to disregard all the flaws or moments where the game could be scarier but just isn't, or where something really spectacular can happen, but doesn't.

[Boody-Bandit]

The game was not only not scary but it was freaking boring.
The end of Episode 6? Are you freaking kidding me!? I don't want to say too much because I know people will read my comment even though I warned them not too if they haven't played the game yet, but I was like WTF, this is it?

I was very disappointed.
Unlimited ammo for the stupid takenado which only took a couple shots to defeat anyway? SIGH

After all the hype I thought the story was going to blow me away and instead I was so disinterested. When you play a game like this on a big screen display, surround cranked, basement gameroom with no windows and lights off? You should be on the edge of your seat ready to hit the switch to turn the lights on! Never happened.

The only episode I enjoyed was when you partnered up with the sheriff and your manager. <- I cant even remember their names the game was that forgettable and I just completed it a couple days ago.

[tinybigman]

AW is my favorite 360 goty so far and I'm not really a fan of survival horror. That's how great I thought I was.

[Imperator]

The game should have gone to the PC, or PS3. The 360 crowd is just not meant for these types of games. Maybe they could have put Halo somewhere on the box. That would have sold more units.

[specialguest]

In the past, there were many Sony exclusives that failed commercially as well, and a lot of you Sony fanboys used to justify it by making the statement about how big sales doesn't equal quality titles.

Well well, it's only fair to use the same statement again for this title I suppose.

[inception123]

well this game failed both with sales and reviews so i think it is safe to say it flopped no matter how you look at it.

[BkaY]

i have it ... i like it ... thts all matter to me..

peace...

[PooEgg]

Thank you, glad I am not the only one who enjoyed this game. I'm surprised that others didn't like it, but I like single player games (so sick of the whole must make it multi-player mind frame) and I love survival horror so Alan Wake really worked for me.

[outrageous]

The game has been out 6 weeks and has sold 520,000 copies. Not great, but far from a flop. Sales could potentially pick up with the DLC. The lack of multi-player was the problem. If the game launched with co-op it would of sold more, faster. Still very early...lol

The game looks amazing and plays incredibly well. I bought the CE edition with 3 discs and the hardcover book. I still own my original copy of res 4 too. Games like this don't come around all the time. Free DLC on July 27...can't wait.

Here's the game engine...one of the best this gen.

[fishd]

According to wiki :

Video games developed by Remedy Entertainment :

Death Rally – MS-DOS (1996), Windows (2009)
Max Payne – Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Mac OS, Game Boy Advance (2001)
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne – Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox (2003)
Alan Wake – Xbox 360 (2010)

Correct me if I am wrong but it seems they worked 7 years on AWO.O

[bjornbear]

exclusivity + remedy = problem.

[SOAD]

I disagree. Had the game been exclusive to PC I think Remedy could have done much more with it.

I don't like how consoles force their limitations upon games. Neither the 360 nor the PS3 are as powerful as many developers would like. 512 megs of RAM is hurting games.

I can name many examples of even the most graphically appealing games that are hampered down by RAM limitations.

[Dude420]

This is such a fanboy site now. I hate when fanboys use "dev time" to judge how the quality of a game should be. Yes, the amount of time worked on it is definitely important, but you guys always fail to consider the other important things as well.

To be exact, AW took 6 and a half years, they had some setbacks due to their decision making (such as no PC version).

Let's take a look at Killzone 2, why did it look amazing? Is it because it took 5 years? Well that's part of the reason, but they also had over 150 people working on the game.

Remedy however, only has a team of 40 - 50 people.

Big difference my friends, thankfully it still turned out to be a decent game, too bad about the sales though.

[beardpapa]

this has always been a 'fanboy' site. And you shouldn't point out that so-and-so has only a team of 40-50 people. It can go both ways. Just because they only had that many people shouldn't make them the only exception.

[DigitalRaptor]

The sad thing is, that if that is true, they spent too long making the wrong decisions.

Looking at it's current sales, they might as well have released it exclusively on the PC, and it would have faired as well as if not better on that platform too. Not to mention what they could have achieved on the PC.

Poor Remedy, they should be kicking themselves. Their game is considered a flop, and the (PC) audience that made them who they are today are resenting them for being neglected. Shame.

[Elven6]

Just because they didn't release anything since 2003 doesn't mean they've been developing the game for the entire time. Studios have gone years without releasing products, anything could happen during that time, prototypes we never see, engine creation, outsourced work for universities, businesses, etc.

[dizzleK]

and like those hardcore titles on wii, it received zero marketing. is a game known only to message board lurkers really a victim of hype?

ms dropped the ball by not advertising this. period. and they're letting the same thing happen to crackdown. all they're good at advertising is guaranteed hits like halo and "middle finger to sony" games like ff13. they couldn't care less if the rest of their games sit and rot.

[The Iron Sheik]

I saw Alan Wake ads on Youtube and other gaming sites so don't pretend it had zero marketing because it is not true.

IMO it failed because it is not a shooter and there is no multiplayer.

[Funky Town_TX]

I did not buy it because of lack of replay value. My money is tight. I can't spend $60 on something that I will only have a week. I go for shooters and sports. I have tried other games but they don't do it for me. Call me whatever you like but I only buy what I want. I have about 5 close friends that have 360's and they buy everything that comes out on the system.

[cmacdonald]

I thought it was a shooter

[bioshock1221]

That is exactly the point it only had marketing on gaming websites which is pointless since most people who visit gaming website are most likely already aware of Alan Wake's existence so what is the point in that.

The point of advertising is to make people aware of a certain product who aren't aware it exists. It had not advertising as far as TV commercials no one can deny that. Which is why it failed and don't give me that it was a single player game only as the reason it failed because plenty of single player games have sold well.

If I didn't visit websites like N4G I would not know this game existed.

[badz149]

"and like those hardcore titles on wii, it received zero marketing" - no it's not! although maybe not properly advertised on TV, they did show it at E3 09! that's one hell of an event to show your game!

and crackdown2, from reviews so far (official and users), is kinda let down! kinda like the 1st with new coatings. so, I think I can understand M$'s stance with it. spending money over it might have been a waste. they still have to market Reach to infinity this year. it's safe to think that majority of their marketing budget this year is for Reach!

[Hellsvacancy]

It should of been a multiplat title no way about it, it looks like a multiplat game, that DOESNT in anyway mean id buy it (its rental title imo) but id imagine Alan Wake would of sold near if not more than it did on the 360

Its a shame 2 spend all that amount of time on a game for it not to sell bucket loads coz Alan Wake DOES look a little appealin (meanin its not a FPS) i still wouldnt buy it but i know alot of other PS3 owners would (PS3 owners tend to hav more of an imagination when it comes to gamin)

[Paradicia]

"It should of been a multiplat title no way about it, it looks like a multiplat game"

How does it look like a multi-plat game? It was developed on Remedies own propitiatory engine.

[D4RkNIKON]

Yeah I would have bought it if it was on PS3. Looked interesting to me. The hype was massive tho. I remember some fanboy touting that it had the best graphics to date. But you can't take GreenRingofLife says seriously.

[Tony-A]

Isn't there a movie with the exact same plot as Alan Wake? I know it's kinda off topic, but it's been bugging me.

It had Johnny Depp in it and he was a writer who had writers block, but the things he wrote came to life or something.... a dog died. I kinda forgot the movie, but it was kinda like that.

[yewles1]

Secret Window.

[TenSteps]

The similarity with Alan Wake and the Secret Window are pretty much obvious.

Yes they both were authors who had writers block but in Alan Wake, Alan loses his wife to a dark force and wakes up further in time than when he was last conscious realizing that something was wrong. He then recieves pages from a manuscript detailing events that would actually happen.

Secret Window sees Depp's character harassed by a man who claims that Depp stole his book and claimed it as his own. The book was almost exactly alike with certain differences.

The Enemy in Alan Wake is the darkness whereas the enemy in Secret Window is...

***MOVIE SPOILERS***
Depp's characters own mentality seeing as the man who claims that Depp stole his book is just in his head, the man that would do things he could not do.
***END MOVIE SPOILERS***

[HolyOrangeCows]

Sounds like that would have been the better plot for Alan Wake, just replace that man with Steven King, heh heh.

[Tony-A]

Thank you all! Now I remember!

[Obama]

500k lol. All the 360 fanbase buy are fps and tps.

[Dude420]

Fable 2 and Forza 3 sold 4 million and 3 million respectively. It seems like PS3 gamers also buy shooters. The PS3 sales of MW2 completely destroy every other PS3 exclusive. A lot of the PS3 exclusives that heavily involve shooting surely enjoy the sales as well. The only ones that are the exception are MGS4 and GOW3, then again, they are well established.

[xHarvey]

How much did it cost to make the game? May be they made profit ? If they haven't made a profit they will. This game isn't bad at all. I hope it sells enough for a sequel. Can't wait for the DLC.

[Red-Dead-Roar]

how much money do you need to fund a developer crew for 7 years.... ?
i'm betting more than 500k sales....

[Naughty Dog]

The PC version is just around the corner, waiting to be published.

[JonnyBigBoss]

PC version during a Steam sale would be nice.

[lastdual]

It's called launching at the same time as Read Dead Redemption. I'm still amazed that so many industry insiders were surprised by RDR's success. How out of touch are these people? The hype was obvious as hell from the gaming community.

[Funky Town_TX]

It's one of the best that I have played this year. I borrowed it from a friend. I don't buy games that lack replay value. This game only has SP, so it was a no buy for me. Remedy did a great job on this one though.

[etownone]

Same as me.

I only buy used single player games if the price is real cheap. Can't go around every great game that comes along .... Games are just too expensive these days.

Te only single player game i bought day one with zero regrets is Mass Effect 2
:)

[Crusade]

Single player games have replay value.

[LiquifiedArt]

These are the people who you can BLAME for an industry shift to Subscription-based services, instead of packaged experiences.

Thank them for the demise of gaming and the rise of social networking, because that is what it will become.

[Naughty Dog]

If it's not a shooter, it won't sell on the 360.

[Henry Cain]

I feel the same way sir. Not only that the game took 5yrs to make and they took out the roam anywhere part of the game. The biggest point is that 360 fans really enjoy FPS and TPS.

[etownone]

Single player games are better to buy down the line used at half the price.

I did that for Bioshock 2, AC 2, and plenty others.

Alan Wake is an incredible game ... Too bad it's gonna bankrupt Remedy, unless they port it to the PC quick and try and make some more $$$

[bjornbear]

and then you say

Too bad it's gonna bankrupt Remedy, unless they port it to the PC quick and try and make some more $$$

how about if all 360 fans didn't have the "single games only half price or used" mentality, maybe then they WOULDN'T GO BANKRUPT.

good single player games just as worth the investment as a good multiplayer game.

if you disagree, you are the cause for remedy's demise.

[IHateYouFanboys]

Remedy wont go bankrupt.

according to figures, Alan Wake sold 500 000 copies worldwide in its first month. at US$60 each, thats US$30 million. in my country, Australia, the games sell for AU$100, which is like US$80, and im sure many other countries are the same, so thats even more money for them.

Remedy are made up of ~45 people. so rough estimates would peg that $30mil at $666k per employee. if it took them 6 years to make, thats an average wage of $111k per year, per employee. now its very, VERY unlikely that everyone at Remedy is on US$111k a year. probably only a very few senior guys are even on remotely that much.

now factor in the next months sales, and the next months, and the next months, and the next months, and the obvious sponsorship deal by Energiser in the game, and you can see why Remedy will make a tidy profit off Alan Wake.

[Snoogins]

But it doesn't work like that. Companies sell their games cheap to retail and retail makes profit from price mark-ups. The money is split among the developer, the publisher and I believe the platform holder (Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo), which in this case the publisher and platform holder are the same. I'm guessing Remedy gets between $15-30 a game? I remember reading that most projects need to sell at least 1 million to break even, AAA projects needing to sell 2 million, and RDR, which allegedly cost $100 million to make needed to sell 4 million to become profitable.

Oh, and one more thing, the mark-ups you see in countries like Australia or European countries are due to costs in shipping, customs and taxing, so I doubt it means more money for their pockets.

I really hope Alan Wake proves it has legs and Remedy can turn a profit. I'd hate to see these guys go under.

[Moonboots]

Remedy are already talking about a sequel.. Bankrupt? LOL

[Subzero200x]

it failed because they made it a console game...dumb ass devs.

[solidjun5]

Wasn't marketed very well and MS decision to not develop the game for the PC. That's my opinion. I've played the game. It's pretty damn good. Loved the story.

[chiwoo]

I enjoyed Alan Wake but it did come out at a bad time. Red dead redemption Split second UFC, and modnation racers. and more But the game was not Advirtised anywhere on TV or Stores maybe some people maybe some never really cared at all for the game but was still hyping it Plus it took a long time to come out which years of Microsoft Money being spent on it I also think Microsoft was not confident in this game from the begining

[Sheikh Yerbouti]

Pretty much just Red Dead Redemption...crappy month for everybody else.

[tatotiburon]

lol look all this ps3retards...let's talk about WKC, modnation, MAG sales ok?

[voodoopickle]

Cause not a single one of them was in developement for nearly as long, and WKC was designed for japan and did very well over their

[chiwoo]

Alan Wake was said as an AAA game for the 360 which gamers were hyping up forever And the games you said were not really AAA games maybe Modnation was People was hating on Heavy Rain because the idea of it was stupid and it would flop Look at it now it Sold Well and it seems your only focused on other system sales except for Alan wake I got Alan Wake. I bet you Dont even Have the game except for looking at videos on youtube or something

[chidori666]

"How Alan Wake Failed Commercially"

this is problem of userbase of 360, they not buy this types of game..

[Moonboots]

And what type of userbase does the 360 buy oh Mr. FPS Helghan Killzone guy?

Please enlighten the internet with your in depth knowledge of all 360 users..

I bought Alan Wake, I look down my friends list and see probably %75 of them with it on their played games list.

Stop generalizing.

[Bathyj]

Well, I wont point the finger directly at anyone, but I'd bet my left nut this game would have sold better on PS3.

Make of that, what you will.

[Pandamobile]

Microsoft killed any chance of Alan Wake being a success by offing the PC version. I would have bought that game in a heart-beat, and I know dozens of other Remedy fans that were eagerly awaiting it...

[Arnon]

PC Version was needed. Other reasons why this game hasn't sold well are obvious. There was little advertisement and word from Microsoft about the game itself. It also released on the same damn day as two other games: Red Dead Redemption and Split/Second.

FYI folks, this is coming from someone who believes that Alan Wake is one of the most well-made console games to date. It has an excellent story that now has over 30 pages of theories for the ending on the official forums. It's an absolutely gorgeous game with character models that are unmatched on the Xbox 360. Jaggies are non-existent and screen-tearing is irrelevant. It truly is a masterpiece and one of the finest titles to be available on the Xbox 360. The game really deserves more praise and sales.

[AKS]

I actually bought and enjoyed Alan Wake, although I am still SEVERELY pissed about the PC version getting canned. I should be playing this in 1080p, 60 fps, maxed, and with 7.1 sound. And yes, I do have a quad core CPU in my PC. I agree RDR was tough competition that really hurt Alan Wake's business. I also think the PC and PS3 user bases would be much more open to this type of game. Niche titles like Valkyria Chronicles, Demon's Souls, and Heavy Rain keep being labeled as too risky and unusual, yet they haven't bombed. Quite the opposite, actually. PC gamers have always embraced a wide variety of genres and unique gaming experiences. I think Alan Wake was given to the audience least interested in it.

[Dellis]

Its a PS3 MOVE game

[C0MPUT3R]

.....................
.
bu, bu, Da 360z ownerz BUY da xcluzives.
.
.....................

[skyblue14213]

For the last year or 2 I have heard mostly nothing but "alan wake this" and "alan wake that". Now that the game got released recently I hardly hear the game mentioned, and the times that it does get mentioned it gets put in a negative light for the most part. What gives? because If I am not mistaken some people were making the game out to be the defining game of this generation. I am not a fanboy and even though I don't like microsoft for various unbiased reasons, this game actually seemed interesting and I was maybe planning to buy it for pc but microsoft cancelled it and only made it available for the xbox 360 which just makes me not want to buy the xbox 360 even more, and just adds more fuel to the fire on why I don't like microsoft. Knowing how greedy microsoft is by nickel and diming its customers that you would think that after microsoft poured so such money into the development of this game for so long that they would want to release it on multiple platforms to make as much money as they can, though I don't mean to nickle and dime their customers, but to make more money without ripping it's customers off.

[Moonboots]

I do a lot of PC gaming and this site is just a mad group of PC gamers throwing Alan under the bus because they couldn't pirate it on their PC.

I enjoyed the game and I probably would of bought it on PC but it came out on console and I got my monies worth. Your loss if you didn't play it.

I would encourage anyone into the survival horror genre to pick it up.

[romancer]

I bought Alan Wake and Red Dead Redemption on the same day. I also bought official Guide Books for both. I noticed that at metacritic.com, RDR scored much higher across the board with critics than did Alan Wake. RDR scored 95; Alan Wake got an averaged rating of 83;

With RDR, it was love at first sight.... and many hours later, it was still interesting. At this time of writing, I am just about to get the completionist achievement-- which indicates a high level of engagement with this game.

Whereas with Alan Wake, I struggled along, I could see some things were done well... but i was rarely turned on by the game. It did not feel involving; in fact it seemed rather alienating (maybe others will feel differently about it).

I couldn't care less about whether it had TV ads or not... for me, the bottom line is: I would not recommend Alan Wake to anyone else... whereas I recommended RDR to everyone i knew. I completed the game and said to myself: thank goodness, that's over, now i can trade it in. To me it was more of a monotonous ordeal than a great game experience.

I tend to think that many others also found it to be a ho-hum game --- otherwise word of mouth would have increased its sales considerably.

Alan Wake's relatively low sales have nothing to do with XBox players being "unsophisticated"; just look at the sales figures of most multi-platform games.
Alan Wake was simply not a very impressive game.

[Microsoft Xbox 360]

Alan Wake failed on all fronts. Graphics with its sub-HD res and massive screen tearing, average gameplay, and and a not too great story. Let's not forget all the hype from the 360 loyalist. It's simply not 2009/2010 standard.

[Moonboots]

Massive screen tearing?

You have a solid opinion there so you might want to get your TV checked out because there was no "massive" tearing. You sound like you read the internet and pretend to have first hand knowledge.

Let me use one of YOUR OWN QUOTES:

"Stealth trolling at its finest. Yes, really believe you have an untouched PS3. "

And I really believe you played Alan Wake.

Anyway, I just browsed your comments and you seem to be doing your fanboy thang.. It's cool.. I will get out of your way.

[PirosThe4th]

Online multiplayer shooters are hurting the industry... hell I have friends who only play MMOs or Shooters online like Modern Warfare and others...

Its why i hate to play those games online. Those people only but another shooter but ignore other games until that other shooter comes out...

If it wasn't for Red Dead this game should have done a lot better.
It would have been awesome on pc... I was hoping (still) that remedy would release it back on pc.

[jalen247]

The audience for Alan Wake is on PS3 not Xbox 360.

Sales reflect this fact.

[ElementX]

Well, I'm enjoying the game. I've told some of my friends about it, also. I think that for a lot of people, this type of game is a rental, I purchased my copy, though.

[Pika-pie]

Buy this game!

[k4rma]

Playing it right now, along with RDR. Although I was pretty sceptical about both games, since I am not a huge fan of third person games (I prefer first person views) both games are pretty awesome, and very different to one another.

Each game scratches just the right itch. RDR for some open world exploration and Alan Wake for a really deep, survival horror gameplay and some cool ‘light based’ combat.

I’m really glad I gave it a chance tbh. Once I get my FPS fix from Singularity in a few weeks, I’ll be set for the next few months.

Shame it hasn’t sold well initially, but maybe it will be a slow burner. I think most folks go with RDR first, because it seems to have more action, but actually that’s not true. Alan Wake has much denser and deeper combat mechanics.

[jujulolo]

GOTY 2010 so far.
But too complicated for the majority of gamers.

[XDF]

How long did it took in Famous to sell 1 million??/ 6 - 8 months?

Alan Wake sold 500K in one month and it failed, can't see the logic in that.

This game will sell over 1 million by the end of the year. I bought the limited edition first day.

[divideby0]

releasing it alongside RDR.... Stupidest thang MS could have done..
game was a short SP game for 60 bucks...fun, but little value and the game was so overhyped....

[Syaz1]

come on...succumb to rockstar's piggy bank, you know u wanna...

[Syaz1]

i don't consider "die hard: the video game" to be max payne 3.

[ChickeyCantor]

Played Alan Wake on a 52" HD tv, and was amazed by some scenery.
The facial expressions were hilariously bad though. But the lightning system was amazing.

Just thought they could have done so much more with it.

[Lipscomba]

I don't know why, but I couldn't bond with Allan Wake. It shocked me because I usually bond with the main characters. I really didn't care about his story. That being said it is a good game, I would recommend people play it, but it's not what they hyped it up to be.