Matias-Myllyrinne
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Remedy couldn't make Quantum Break without Microsoft
Like an Alan Wake mystery, the reasons behind Quantum Break's Xbox One exclusivity are slowly becoming clearer. Speaking to Games Industry, Remedy CEO Matias Myllyrinne revealed that Microsoft's help has been instrumental in bringing the game to life. Without outright confirming that Microsoft is financing the ambitious project – half of which is a full-fledged television show – Myllyrinne said, "[W]e need to fall back and let the full force of a company like Microsoft see it through." "There's no way on God's green Earth that we would take on a venture like this on our own," he added. "We might have the appetite but there's no way we could." Myllyrinne says the game serves "a strategic purpose" for Microsoft, giving the publisher a unique experience for its new console and allowing Remedy to create something it wouldn't be able to otherwise. We recently spent some time with the Xbox One exclusive, which you can read about here.
Remedy not done with Alan Wake
Remedy believes in a future for Wake.Matias Myllyrinne, CEO of Remedy, told us at DICE 2012 that the studio isn't done with its literary protagonist after launching Alan Wake on PC and Alan Wake's American Nightmare on XBLA later this month."We're crowd pleasers, we'll do what the audience wants, 'cause usually that's the good business move as well," Myllyrinne responded when we asked what's next for Wake. He also reconfirmed the studio owns the IP, so the future of Wake is theirs to write."Hopefully, we'll have one or two surprises. I don't know, I'm loving the digital [distribution] side and we'll see how that evolves, but just being able to give people quick access to bite-size chunks of gaming is maybe more fun than working for years and years -- taking the phone offline and closing the shutters-- at least, this way, you're able to react much more quickly to people's desires and wishes."With Remedy directly publishing Alan Wake on Steam, we wanted to know if the studio had an internal figure for sales that would dictate resources being put into a full-blown sequel."I don't know. I don't know if that would dictate it. If it bombs [laughs], then that's certainly a signal, but we're fairly confident that it'll do well. We'll certainly continue with Wake. Right now we're focusing on getting the PC out next week, then getting American Nightmare out. And it's too early to talk about what our next move is, but we've obviously put things into motion."
Alan Wake's American Nightmare illuminated in latest dev diary
When Alan Wake makes his second appearance on the Xbox 360 this year in Alan Wake's American Nightmare, he's bringing more than just his flair for writing and a new set of clothes to the fight. He'll have ... umm ... a nail gun, too!
Remedy's Myllyrinne pushing for digital future
According to Remedy head Matias Myllyrinne, the sooner the game industry switches to an entirely downloadable model, the better off it will be. Myllyrinne notes that the DLC episodes for Alan Wake were "hugely successful, and really resonated with the fans." He elaborated that current download marketplaces like Xbox Live Arcade, PSN and Steam offer developers a unique opportunity to "directly engage with your audience." A download-driven industry, said Myllyrinne, would be "better for consumers, better for the developers and publishers," though he admitted such a shift would be "not so good for retail." That said, however, he added that given the way retailers incentivize the sale of used games, he doesn't really "feel sorry" for the potential loss they would suffer. Look, Mr. Myllyrinne, if going downloadable gets us another Alan Wake, just tell us where to sign up.
Report: 'The Writer' is final Alan Wake DLC
Alan Wake's "The Writer" DLC may be the last we see of Mr. Wake in downloadable form, according to Evil Avatar. Remedy head Matias Myllyrinne apparently told the site that The Writer would "conclude things" (Evil Av's words) and, like the last DLC episode, would feature "intense action" (Myllyrinne's words). Remedy has yet to confirm the report as of publishing. Even if the Writer is to be the last DLC for Alan Wake, Remedy has expressed interest in an episodic, digitally distributed release of the full game at some point. Additionally, a recent interview with Remedy resulted in a fuzzy answer to the question of additional Alan Wake DLC beyond The Writer. With any luck, Remedy will paint a clearer explanation soon.
Remedy MD: episodic Alan Wake release would be 'interesting experiment'
Alan Wake was one of the victims of Red Dead Redemption's retail shootout earlier this year, but Remedy's Managing Director Matias Myllyrinne isn't bitter about it. Speaking to Joystiq at GDC Europe, the studio head expressed, "RDR is a fantastic game, due credit to Rockstar, they deserve it. For us, Wake clicked with gamers and a lot of the reviewers out there. I think it will continue to sell as folks learn about it." Myllyrinne expressed hope that the world of Wake would be something that Remedy could continue building on in the future. He couldn't make any announcements on future plans for Mr. Wake, but after seeing the strong reaction from the audience to the game, he feels Remedy established the key things it wanted to do with Wake -- "as a form of entertainment and art." Speaking directly to the numbers and the cost of Wake's five-year production, he said, "Commercially, the numbers will make sense in the end." The internally episodic narrative of Alan Wake would lend itself well to online distribution (perhaps following in Fable 2's footsteps), and Myllyrinne told us, "I don't think there's anything technically stopping us from doing that. I think those will be business decisiions we'll make together with Microsoft. I think it would be an interesting experiment." He also told us the next piece of DLC, dubbed "The Writer," is "not too far away" and that, in terms of gameplay, will feel more "surreal," like "Salvadore Dali does Alan Wake." When pushed on whether Remedy would take a break from Wake after the second DLC episode launches, he couldn't get into specifics. Myllyrinne said he had promised some folks that he wouldn't talk, but that Remedy would announce its next project "in a few months."
Interview: Matias Myllyrinne on breathing life into Alan Wake
Founded in 1995, Remedy Entertainment is set to celebrate its 15th anniversary this year, along with the launch of its fourth game, Alan Wake. In contrast with many of the industry's studios, which are comfortable with putting out a new game every two years (if not more frequently), this Finnish game developer can't be rushed to completion. "Remedy is not a game factory," its website tells those looking for employment. The company's managing director, Matias Myllyrinne, wouldn't have it any other way. "You know, this is a labor of love, at least for us," he told Joystiq during an interview at the Game Developers Conference, held last month in San Francisco. After we discussed the game's technology, its cinematic aspirations and its carefully picked cast of actors, it became evident that Alan Wake -- despite lacking "buckets and buckets of blood" -- has a heart, transplanted from the people who made it. "It's almost like you need to see it through, for your own kind of well-being as a creative team," Myllyrinne said. Also, there definitely won't be an Alan Wake musical, so forget about it.
Alan Wake: several DLC episodes this year, second 'season' dependent on audience
As revealed during this year's Consumer Electronics Show, tormented writer Alan Wake will continue his dimly lit journey in the form of post-launch downloadable episodes. After the internally episodic thriller hits shelves on May 18, Remedy Entertainment will expand it with at least two episodes in 2010. The scope of subsequent episodes and the duration of DLC support will hinge on the audience, of course, but Remedy managing director Matias Myllyrinne envisions a substantial engagement. "I think it'll depend a lot on the audience, but certainly we want to -- if we're successful -- we want to do a large 'Season 2,' if you will, at some point," he said in an interview with Joystiq. "Right now, I'm not allowed to say what we're doing exactly this year. But we're going to have more than one episode come out this year." Once the full game is complete and the team has a chance to gauge acceptance and feedback, Remedy Entertainment will shed some more light on its plans. We'll share ours with you right now: Expect to see the full Matias Myllyrinne interview on Joystiq later this week.
Interview: Remedy's Matias Myllyrinne on Alan Wake
X10 was a special day for Remedy's long-in-development Alan Wake: the release date was announced at last, officially bringing the psychological thriller within a few months of release. On this occasion, Matias Myllyrinne, managing director of Remedy, shared his thoughts with Joystiq about episodic gaming, the inevitabillity of digital distribution, and high-profile competition. Joystiq: It was announced earlier that there would be episodes of Alan Wake. Matias Myllyrinne: It was just announced in CES by Robbie Bach. Did you guys take a look at the experiment with Fable 2? That was surprising. What are your thoughts on that? I think it's interesting to see how those new forms of enjoying entertainment -- how to distribute that, and get through to people in the way they want to enjoy it. I think it'll be really cool to see what happens with the Fable episodic delivery stuff. I think the jury's still out on how people want to consume media such as games. I think it's also an evolving thing, as well. If you think back to music, it's not that long ago that we all bought CDs. That changed. I thought it would happen like in two years, but it actually took more like seven for the music industry to shift and tilt. %Gallery-85310%
Matias Myllyrinne answers 10 Questions from the Academy
And now, 10 Questions from the Academy: A weekly feature from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences wherein significant figures in the video game industry provide their input on past trends, current events, and future challenges and goals for the entertainment software community. Matias Myllyrinne is a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences and will speak at the D.I.C.E. Summit in 2010. He works for Remedy, and told Joystiq that the developer's latest game, Alan Wake, is "done" and is just being "polished" before its "Spring 2010" release. AIAS: What's your favorite part of game development? Matias Myllyrinne: Shipping. We are so close with Alan Wake and it has taken a while. I would really like to share what we have done with the world. No other feeling can match the exhilaration of seeing years of work come to closure. How do you measure success? As for, success in games. it's easy – units sold and Metacritic. In any form of entertainment, if the audience likes what you create and it sells – that's what counts in the end. Professionally, success is defined by the success of those around me. Are my partners aligned with me and taking part in good business, is my team creative, empowered and financially secure and are my shareholders seeing good long term strategic direction. Personally, I am successful if I am doing new things, enjoying a balanced life with the job I love and all the other interesting things the world has to offer.
Lessons from GDC Europe: The 'seven pillars' of a Remedy IP
During his speech at GDC Europe – exhaustively titled "From Max Payne to Alan Wake: Creating Intellectual Properties the Remedy Way" (air!) – Remedy Managing Director Matias Myllyrinne laid out the seven pillars the company uses for its games: 1. Strong Lead Character -- Main character is iconic and easy to get on the surface. Things went wrong when Myllyrinne wanted the Max Payne sequel to simply be called The Fall of Max Payne. The compromised title admittedly didn't work out in the sales department. He didn't mention anything about Rockstar's reimagined Max Payne in the latest sequel. 2. Mainstream approachability -- Avoiding niche and cliché settings (for video games that would mean no WWII setting, dragons, sci-fi, etc.). Having gameplay mechanics that are approachable (low barrier of entry to start playing the game). 3. Cinematic -- Taking lessons learned from movies. The presentation of Max Payne makes this pretty obvious. With Alan Wake the company is focusing on the trinity of the flashlight, Alan himself (see: pillar one), and the gun. This also lead Myllyrinne to an anecdote about presentation, saying "It's not what things are, it's what the audience thinks things are." He mentioned the Ingram gun was made bigger in Max Payne because people expect that gun to be larger than it actually is in real life.
Reassuring: Alan Wake is 'done,' being polished
Remedy Managing Director Matias Myllyrinne tells Joystiq that Alan Wake is finished and getting all gussied up for its release next spring. After a GDC Europe presentation on how Remedy handles intellectual property, we asked the executive if the long-in-development title would be ready to wake when the snow melts. Myllyrinne noted, "It's all done, we're just polishing at this point." Wow, great! With something like six months to go before its "spring 2010" launch, Alan Wake should shine by the time it's released. Considering the title has been in development since 2005, it's good to know that the game is "done" and just trying to become its very best. %Gallery-64691%
