Summary
Alan Wake 2game director Kyle Rowley has suggested that the game’s physical release on Xbox Series X/S may not come with the base game on disc and thus may require a mandatory update to play. This turns out to be an Xbox-specific disadvantage as the PS5 version ofAlan Wake 2apparently comes with all the necessary content on the disc.
Taking a quick look at the numerous awardwins and nominationsAlan Wake 2baggedover the past several months, it won’t be an overstatement to call it developer Remedy’s magnum opus. Additionally, the survival horror title is also the Finnish company’s fastest-selling game, with nearly one-and-a-half million units sold as of February. After posting remarkable sales figures as a digital-only release,Alan Wake 2is now set to make the jump to physical, with disc versions for PS5 and Xbox Series consoles hitting the shelves later this year.
When asked ifAlan Wake 2’s physical release on Xbox will contain the entire game and DLCs on disc, Kyle Rowley tweeted that the physical version comes with a single disc and “an update will be required” on Xbox. In another tweet about the PS5 version, he highlighted that the disc comes with the base game and thenewly launchedNight SpringsDLC. Clearly, these statements imply that Xbox players may not get the entire base game on disc and may be required to download an update before playing, unlike their PS5 counterparts.
Remedy’s FAQ section mentions thatAlan Wake 2’s physical version will have only one discand require additional downloads on both PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. However, the discrepancy between Rowley’s answers for the two physical versions hints that Xbox users may have to bear with a larger-sized download compared to PlayStation users.
Fans React to Alan Wake 2 Physical Release Limitation on Xbox
Rowley’s statements have since sparked criticism from fans, with many of them expressing disappointment at the physical version for Xbox requiring a download before playingAlan Wake 2. A user wrote, “That would be really sad, as it misses the point of a physical copy.” Another user said, “People care about having the game in its entirety physically.” Some fans also singled out that the physical version’s Xbox-specific restriction andXbox’s outspoken commitment to game preservationdon’t line up.
Interestingly,Alan Wake 2’s physical release, despite the PS5 version containing the base game, doesn’t appear to do enough for game preservation overall. That’s because, even though the game’s PS5 disc may not require a download before playing, Sony’s consoles aren’t the best when it comes to backwards-compatibility. For instance, the PS4 doesn’t support any of its predecessors' physical games, whereas the PS5’s backwards-compatibility only goes back one generation. On the flip side, both Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S are compatible with games all the way back to the original Xbox. With this in mind, the one platform whereAlan Wake 2’s physical release could have ensured long-term accessibility was Xbox, where the disc version doesn’t even seem to contain the full base game.
Alan Wake 2
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A string of ritualistic murders threatens Bright Falls, a small-town community surrounded by Pacific Northwest wilderness. Saga Anderson, an accomplished FBI agent with a reputation for solving impossible cases arrives to investigate the murders. Anderson’s case spirals into a nightmare when she discovers pages of a horror story that starts to come true around her.Alan Wake, a lost writer trapped in a nightmare beyond our world, writes a dark story in an attempt to shape the reality around him and escape his prison. With a dark horror hunting him, Wake is trying to retain his sanity and beat the devil at his own game.Anderson and Wake are two heroes on two desperate journeys in two separate realities, connected at heart in ways neither of them can understand: reflecting each other, echoing each other, and affecting the worlds around them.Fueled by the horror story, supernatural darkness invades Bright Falls, corrupting the locals and threatening the loved ones of both Anderson and Wake. Light is their weapon—and their safe haven — against the darkness they face. Trapped in a sinister horror story where there are only victims and monsters, can they break out to be the heroes they need to be?
