A year-and-a-half after its original announcement, Alan Wake 2 resurfaced at today's PlayStation Showcase, where it received a new trailer and numerous details.
The new trailer feature the titular hero, Alan Wake, but he seems to be trapped in the Dark Place. He stars alongside Saga Anderson, an FBI agent and second playable protagonist who seems to be investigating some unusual circumstances that Alan is also involved in.
Writing on the official site, creative director Sam Lake explained that Saga Ander is a "profiler with a reputation for solving impossible cases with uncanny leaps of logic."
"Our two heroes are very different from each other yet connected in multiple unexpected ways," Lake explained. "They are both critical parts of this story and experience. Saga is a newcomer when it comes to the supernatural lore in Alan Wake’s world, and thus a perfect point-of-view character to lead new players into the Remedy universe, but also offers so much depth for returning fans into this new mystery. It’s important to us that Alan Wake 2 works as a stand-alone experience but also has a ton of connections for our fans to find."
Lake described Alan Wake 2 as a "deep, layered story with surprised buried inside, waiting to be discovered." The story once again takes place in Bright Falls, where Saga begins to uncover pages of a horror story seemingly written by Alan that begins to come true around her. Alan, who went missing 13 years ago, is simultaneously trying to write his way out of a nightmare he's trapped in.
Along with the trailer, Remedy confirmed that the game is launching on October 17, 2023 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
A sequel to Remedy's supernatural horror game for the Xbox 360, Alan Wake 2 will shift the series fully to survival horror. It was first announced back in 2021, but received few details. Earlier this week, the character's voice actor emerged to say that it's "supposed to come out in October," giving it a 2023 release window.
"This is only the beginning," Lake said. "We are barely scratching the surface with what we are showing you in the coming weeks. I’m bursting to rave about all of it, and we will talk about some of it later, but a lot you will have to discover yourself by playing it later this year."
With Summer Game Fest coming up next month, we are likely to learn much more about Alan Wake 2 soon. In the meantime, check out our full recap of all the announcements from the PlayStation Showcase.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.