Remedy explains why Alan Wake is digital-only

With each passing year we have seen the video games industry adopt digital libraries more and more, with the market share for physical media dwindling. Some developers have taken the rise in digital media as an opportunity, with studio Remedy Entertainment explaining their reasons behind making Alan Wake 2 a digital-only release.

Back in May we learned that Alan Wake 2 would be releasing exclusively in a digital format, with no plans for a physical disc version. Now, the title’s creative director Sam Lake and game director Kyle Rowley sat down with Eurogamer to explain exactly why they made this choice.

Lake began by saying “Yeah, it is digital only, and kind of coming to this idea, both from Remedy and Epic's perspective, that's our current thinking. It just felt it makes sense for this, and the timing felt right.”

Offering further explanation, Rowley added, “As creatives obviously, by going digital-only it does allow us more time to polish the game, like, a significant amount of weeks actually. Because otherwise, the game that goes on the disc, obviously it has to be playable without a patch. We didn't want to release something that we weren't proud of basically, and that we didn't want players to play. So hopefully this way we can give you a better version of the game.”

This point was raised back with the original FAQ, but it is interesting nonetheless to get the perspective of those directly involved in such a decision. While it is true that digital media has its benefits, there are also many downsides. Hopefully this isn’t the start of the end of physical games.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the explanation? Do you agree? Will the PlayStation 6 be digital-only? Let us know your thoughts down below.

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