Stevivor sat down with Thomas Puha, Head of Media & Partners at Remedy, to discuss the development and also public relations plan for the upcoming Quantum Break. Before delving into Remedy’s newest game, I couldn’t resist asking about the controversy that recently emerged over Alan Wake’s Return.
For those unaware, a trademark application for Alan Wake’s Return surfaced before Remedy had the chance to discuss what it meant for Quantum Break. That leak meant Wake fans – this journalist included – got incredibly hopeful that a sequel to the underappreciated Alan Wake had been greenlit.
It turns out, the trademark refers simply to a clip that appears — as far as we know now — in Act 1-1 of Quantum Break itself.
“The whole trademark thing is just about the Alan Wake’s Return clip you’ve seen in Quantum [Break],” Puha stressed. “It’s just the legalities of it; it’s our IP and there are legal reasons as to why we have to do it.”
“It’s just unfortunate that that information [the trademark application without context] tends to go public,” he continued. “I’ve told people they shouldn’t read too much into that.”
To Remedy’s credit, it was quick to set fans’ expectations accordingly.
“It’s not a promise of things to come. We’ve been very clear – especially Sam [Lake] – that we’d love to make more Alan Wake,” Puha stressed. “But, we also realise that you need to spend a lot of money on these things and you need a publisher for it; we don’t want to make an Alan Wake game with too much compromise. If the opportunity comes up, we’d love to do it; we definitely have an idea of what it would be.”
From a PR slant, Alan Wake back in the news is hardly a bad thing.
“Obviously, we want to keep the brand out there,” Puha admitted, though he was quick to explain in context.
“In many ways the whole Alan Wake’s Return thing in Quantum [Break] is fan service. It’s what fans want and expect. It’s something Remedy always does in its games,” he continued, referring to similar instances as far back as the original Max Payne.
As you’d expect, Puha was mindful of the message Remedy had planned before Quantum Break’s release, be it announcements or simply quashing rumours.
“Someone wrote, ‘there’s an Alan Wake mini-series in Quantum Break’ and no one has said that,” he said, unbelievably.
Still, the PR game means you don’t show all your cards at once. I made a comment that maybe the video clip shown in Act 1-1 wasn’t the last we’d see of Alan Wake.
Puha raised his eyebrow at that.
“Maybe,” he said, smirking.
We’ll know for sure when Quantum Break is released on Xbox One and Windows PC in early April.
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