Alan Wake vanishes from stores next week

Adored by some, overlooked by others, Remedy Entertainment’s Alan Wake will vanish from Steam and the Xbox Games Store on May 16 due to a music licensing issue, an official with the developer tells Polygon.

The licensing for the music, a compelling element of the game in the way it helped to wrap chapters of the title, expires on May 15, said Thomas Puha, head of communications for Remedy.

Both Microsoft and Remedy are looking into renegotiating those licenses, but until that is locked down, the game can’t be sold.

“Microsoft and Remedy are looking into renegotiating the music licenses, but there’s nothing more to comment on that for now,” Puha said. “Obviously having to remove the game from stores is rather unfortunate. So, we figured, let’s discount the game heavily and those who have not bought Alan Wake yet, here’s your chance to grab it on Steam.”

To ease a bit of the pain, Remedy is offering Alan Wake, all DLC for the game and Alan Wake’s American Nightmare at 90 percent off in the Steam Store starting at 10 a.m. PT on May 13.

While the original Alan Wake is getting pulled from stores, American Nightmare will be sticking around. Remedy negotiated its own music licensing for that game, but not for the original, according to a blog post from the dev.

What that means for the future of the Alan Wake IP is anyone’s guess, but Remedy does own it. I’ve certainly asked the studio about the possibility of a sequel enough.

In fact, I asked so much, they showed me what Alan Wake 2 was once going to look like.