If there's one thing the entertainment industry can agree on, it's that connected universes are the way to go for most franchises. Though there's only really been one truly successful example of it, connected universes have become a growing trend in the movie industry, and they've even started creeping into the realm of video games. Going a step beyond a long-running franchise with mainline entries and spinoffs, a connected video game universe often draws in characters from across a developer's history, much like Alan Wake 2's Remedy Connected Universe.
Though it'd been hinted at for over a decade, Remedy's Connected Universe was formally established in Control's AWE expansion, where Alan Wake features prominently. Though Alan Wake and Control are the only two series officially confirmed to be in Remedy Connected Universe so far, it's extremely likely that the imminent return of one iconic Remedy action hero will firmly place him in the RCU, and his first official appearance might be right around the corner.
Alan Wake 2 Should Bring Max Payne Into the Remedy Connected Universe
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The Remedy Connected Universe is a fairly simple one right now. As mentioned up top, only Alan Wake and Control are officially connected. Throughout Control, players can find a handful of references to the events of the first Alan Wake and the Dark Presence that Alan faces off against, contextualizing them with Control's Federal Bureau of Control, an organization designed to capture paranatural entities. In turn, the first Alan Wake houses a number of references ot the Bureau, as well as the Oridnary, and the Altered World Events that occur due to their meddling.
A brand-new Alan Wake game is set to release sometime soon, and according to Remedy's creative director Sam Lake, it will be set within Remedy's Connected Universe. That means that fans should expect to see plenty of references to the wider Remedy universe, including plenty of direct connections with Control and its titular Bureau and maybe even a cameo from Control's central protagonist, Jesse Faden. But there's one big Remedy series still yet to be integrated within the wider Connected Universe, and that's Max Payne.
Despite a few Easter eggs and references to Max Payne in the original Alan Wake, with the main one being Alan's famous novel character essentially just being a carbon copy of the gruff ex-detective, Max Payne is not officially in the Remedy Connected Universe - at least not yet. Back in April 2022, Remedy announced that it was working on remakes of the first two Max Payne games alongside Rockstar. Though a recent report has indicated that the Max Payne remakes are still in the conceptual phase of development, and therefore might still be a ways off, it's still the perfect time for Max Payne to be officially brought into the Remedy Connected Universe, with Alan Wake 2 providing the perfect platform.
Bringing Max Payne into the Remedy Connected Universe could go one of two ways: either Remedy decides to go all-out and fully embrace the crossover, or it plants the seeds for future crossovers with some subtle references. The much more likely of the two outcomes is definitely the latter. At the bare minimum, Alan Wake 2 should include some kind of Easter egg that points to Max Payne's whereabouts during that time. For instance, a simple newspaper collectible that mentions an NYPD detective gone rogue would be enough to confirm that Alan Wake 2 is set around the same time as the first two Max Payne games, which would finally connect the series to the Remedy Connected Universe.
Alan Wake 2 is scheduled to release in 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.