Alan Wake II sales estimated at 850k copies on consoles: how it compares other Remedy games

Remedy hasn’t yet disclosed official sales figures for Alan Wake 2. But here are some estimates from analysts of the game’s commercial performance.

According to Ampere Analysis analyst Piers Harding-Rolls, Alan Wake had sold around 850k units across PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S by the end of November. However, its estimated sales on PC, where it is currently exclusively available on the Epic Games Store, remain unclear.

Interestingly, Circana’s Mat Piscatella noted that in terms of active user count, Alan Wake II ranked 147th on Xbox Series X|S and 113th on PlayStation 5 in November. “We don’t currently report on EGS so perhaps PC is carrying a lot of weight,” he added. “But, imo, a physical release and more promotion wouldn’t have hurt on the consoles.”

Harding-Rolls also thinks that “there will be a fair amount of interest [for Alan Wake II] at a reduced price, and then there is sub service inclusion down the line.”

If Ampere’s data is correct, the 850k copies sold in just over a month is still a good result for Remedy Entertainment (even without data about the game’s sales on PC). Here are the official sales figures for the studio’s other titles for comparison:

• Alan Wake — over 3 million copies since May 2010 (4.5 million with DLCs);
• Control — 3.6 million units since August 2019 (it had a €30 million budget and generated over €92 million in lifetime revenue, with Remedy entitled to a 45% share of this amount);
• Max Payne — over 4 million copies since 2001 (its sequel, however, sold “poorly”, according to Take-Two).

Alan Wake II, with an estimated production budget of €50 million, is now the most expensive released title in Remedy’s catalog. In its latest financial report, the company noted that the game has a “strong basis for good long-term sales.”

It is worth noting that Alan Wake II was fully funded by Epic Games. Remedy will be entitled to 50% of its net revenue after the Fortnite maker fully recoups development and marketing expenses. So it is interesting to see how the game performs in the long run.

Right now, the Finnish studio has four projects in its pipeline, including Control 2 (with a €50 million budget; revenue will be equally split between Remedy and 505 Games), multiplayer shooter Vanguard (in partnership with Tencent; recently rebooted to a premium title), and the remake of Max Payne 1-2 (fully funded by Rockstar Games).