Without a Physical PS5 Release, Alan Wake 2 Is Still Remedy's Fastest Selling Game

The all digital future is coming whether we like it or not ladies and gentlemen.

This article just provides further evidence. Will continue buying physical for as long as possible but the writing is on the wall.

I showcase my digital collection by writing names of purchased games on my living room wall

Superb game...will defo get the dlc when it's out

You buy the game digital to support the dev and then when it's off the market you just homebrew your console (it will be possible by that point) and continue to play the game. Nothing is ever truly lost when you go digital. Unless they shut down the servers....and even then, if the game was loved enough then fans will just bring it right back. Don't fear the digital future too much. There will always be a way to access content.

The DiscBoys who revelled in its “failure” will be a little more subdued for a while

Come on remedy give me physical version to touch with my Cheeto fingers!

Im glad, its an amazing game.

The only thing I miss about physical is going to the Asda at midnight for a newly released game.

@Czar_Khastik Your top tier ***** posting is half the reason I read the comment section.
Thanks for the continuous entertainment!

@Netret0120 It's a sequel to a popular game that good high reviews, and was even nominated for GotY from multiple outlets. It was going to sell well regardless, the "no-disc" strategy didn't really impact that, and all it meant was people that would've bought it physically had to purchase it digitally. Real false equivalence there.

Well deserved.
I really like the way they go about creating their games, so its heartening to see it paying off.

@Pat_trick Thanks man, I appreciate the kind words and I'm glad you like it 😎 I also must say that the ongoing Microsoft saga has become my muse and inspiration, so I can't wait to see what comes next haha

Deserves all sucess it gets, goty

Im really enjoyed AW2. Platinum the game on ps5 as well control. So hyped for max payne remake. Just bought the original max payne 2 and 3 on my steam deck oled. Can’t wait to jump back to AW2 for the expansion soon

And we wonder why all digital is round the corner.

No physical, no buy for me,but I have a huge backlog anyway and probably not get around to playing it anyhow even if it does get a physical release,digital no thanks

Would of bought it by now if it had a disc release, bought baldurs gate 3 then was gutted when they announced the physical version so happy to wait on this one.

While I have nothing against buying games digitally, I don't want to support the trend of these big AAA games being digital-only. So I'll most likely wait until the game is like -50% off and get it then.

Fastest selling game is different to how many units sold. I'm sure digital only has harmed it's full potential. This could mean it's sold 1000 units in a new record time. It proves nothing but when everything goes all digital will be the day I hang up my the current gen joypad and go back to retro

Qnd there is still no option to invert the horizontal camera, so I can finally play one of my most anticipated games that I effin' preordered. But hey there is a jump scare slider for people who are too scar d in a horror game! Seriously WTF Remedy?

@messimagician yeah, there's no data to compare it to, so it's impossible to say how much/if at all digital only has affected it really.

Edit : although they are pleased that they can keep the price high now, presumably because of no physical competition, so I guess we've got that to look forward to in the supposed digital future.

@ATaco
Yeah nah.
This seems like such a redditor comment on that site when someone posts something about a major problem they're having with one of the big anti consumer corporation.
The replies are always like "UuUh aKShuALLyy, that's a YOU problem, because I'm not having any problems at all durr".

I'm waiting for this game to come out on disc. It'll probably release along with its DLC

Even more reasons to throw myself into retrogaming even more. Physical all the way for me. Yes I download but not much, modern gaming is starting to bore me so couldn't careless anymore.

I've been part of the all digital future since like a year after the start of the xbox one and ps4 and even had a wedge of 360 and PS3
I'm more then Happy with all digital.

Also I enjoy alan wake 2 but definitely prefer playing as saga and her story then Mr wakes so far.

Some of it also feels that it's being weird just because remedy are being look at us, look how weird and quirky we are, arnt we different 😅

Good for Remedy. I’m sure Capcom appreciates the extra sales they got out of me for Resident Evil 4 and Street Fighter 6 using the money I would have bought Alan Wake 2 with!

I’m dying to play this game because of the reviews, but I tried Alan Wake 1 last week and just couldn’t get through it. It felt so frustrating with the clunky and one-sided combat.

Is 1.3 million units a success these days?

@Darude84
Exactly. It was a huge slog to get through the first part that I couldn't care to even start the DLC. Guess I'm gonna watch a walkthrough on YouTube of the second game.

@Darude84 alan wake 1 is an old game. Alan wake 2 is like 10x better in term of the control. I tried alan wake 1 too,but only played for a little while. I just can’t stand the clunky control like you said. Try the 2,it’s so much fun. I love it and big fan of remedy universe (Control/alan wake)

Good to hear it's sold well and this is still pretty early in its life cycle. AW2 and BG3 were my GOTYs and now the DLC should come sooner than later.

I'm glad it is a success, it is a really good game, but I have to admit that I played a pirated version due to it being all digital. Will buy a copy once/if it will be released on a disc.

Where's the people who say '90% of game sales are digital' and 'digital is the future' now eh? Probably shaking uncontrollably while having to pour themselves a stiff drink.

The facts are AAA games sell more physical than digital.

@ChrisDeku Why? Remedy have admitted the game has failed to turn a profit and it's obvious the lack of physical release has severely hurt it's sales

@Athrum It's not a success, the game is yet to turn a profit

@TrickyDicky99 Did you misunderstand the part where it sold 1.3M units at a much faster rate than any other game they’ve made(the other games all having physical and also netting less revenue per sale)? It will make a profit within one year of release and it will also get $10m+ subscription service deals. It will easily be their most profitable game yet in the long term.

With all this stuff about VG budgets ballooning out of control, I'm sure physical releases will be the first thing on the chopping block (well, second after people's jobs).

@ChrisDeku Do we know the average profit per sale for a AAA digital game Vs physical?

Probably would have doubled if they had physical also, digital prices are disgusting compared to physical, and I can't understand why...oh no wait sony are cornering the people who bought digital ps5(conspiracy)!!

@Fyz306903 On epic store is nets 100%, on PSN and Xbox it nets 70%.

Physical sales net roughly 50% of the price.This net revenue will also need to offset additional costs associated with physical production and distribution that won’t be captured accurately in the per unit cost.

@amatmulisha Thanks, encouraging to hear. Like the person above I’ll probably watch a stort recap of one and just stick with the second one.

@Darude84 good. You gonna like it. Actually you don’t need to play the first 1 to understand the 2. Im skipped the 1 too because of the clunky control 😂

I had my issues with Alan Wake II but I’m glad to hear it appears to be selling well for Remedy. It needs to, as it was their most expensive game to date and was funded by Epic. Whatever gets Control 2 out the door is a big win in my book.

@Specky
I bought a digital only PS5 and a Series S. I'm all in on digital, so I've got no problems with it. I can almost guarantee that two gens from now there will be no more physical consoles except maybe Nintendo still hanging on.

Physical all day everyday ,and physical will be around for a great while yet despite what some people like to think:)

Options is the way forward:)

@ChrisDeku You think 1.3M is a lot for a GOTY contender on all platforms?

The fact is that they haven't even broke even yet, this in no way can be classed as a success.

@TrickyDicky99 Control Was a Goty Contender, was nominated at the Game awards, won IGN game of the year etc. and it had sold around 800k copies in the same time period and that’s with a physical release.

Not all games make tons of money. The best selling Yakuza game ever is like 2m copies lifetime.

@ChrisDeku
I bet that Yakuza game was also way cheaper to make with all the assets they reuse from game to game thus the profit margin is bigger.

Finish patching it up, get the DLC's out, bundle it all together and put it on a disc, I'm buying it again

Really enjoyed the game even though it faulters a little towards the end. I have a physical collection of media so I'll buy it again on disc for sure.

@ChrisDeku Well seeing as most AAA games sell more physical than digital it looks like the sales would of been a lot higher had they released it physically and they might of made a profit.

@Netret0120 how? By its 1.3m sales and the only place you can buy it is online? I am not sure this counts as evidence.

And this article doesn't actually tell you the full story. They haven't made profit on the game yet. So that tells you more.

I'm sorry but the only reason they decided against a disc version was to cut costs not because they believe in an all digital future.

I would have bought it if it was on a disk.
Now I'll wait until it is dirt cheap.

@Czar_Khastik ....🤣🤣 so witty, so good 🤣

@TrickyDicky99 Thats a made up stat, only Sony first party games and a few select others will be 50/50 or lower in 2023+. That’s because they have the broadest appeal and they’re PS only. AWII was also on PC which is 100% digital and Xbox which is 90% digital. PS is not remedy’s main system, control was the first remedy game released day one on a PS in the companies history. Alan Wake was an Xbox/Pc exclusive for like 10 years.

Remedy literally released a breakdown for Control and it was 60% digital in 2019 and 90% digital from 2020 onwards(2020 was Controls most successful year by revenue and units sold).

@ChrisDeku 2020? Pandemic kind of skews that by circumstance.

@Blaze215 I was thinking the same thing. 1.3m across all platforms sounds pretty poor to me. Compared to something like FF16 selling 3m on just the PS5 or a more unfair comparison, Spider-man 2 at 10m.

Not saying Alan Wake 2 is a flop or anything but it just doesn't sound like the grand success some people in the comments are making it out to be.

@TripleKing333 PlayStation Digital Ratio has increased since 2020, it didn’t recede after the pandemic finished

@ChrisDeku I'm afraid the majority of AAA games sell more physically as a lot of people will not spend £60+ for a digital only game period.

If gaming became all digital then sales of AAA games will tank. Physical is here to stay, it's good to have both options.

@ATaco
You'll own nothing and be happy

@Specky
Really? Sony closed down the PSP marketplace and Nintendo shut down the 3DS eShop but I can still go ahead and grab whatever I want. No company can ever truly restrict your access to anything.

@TrickyDicky99 Here’s the accounting data from Sony for the last financial year ending March 2023:

Revenue(millions of yen):
Physical games - 193,439
Digital games - 660,932
Digital add-on content - 862,113
PS Plus - 464, 676

Again, PS even has more physical sales than Xbox, and PC is digital only.

@DarkTron

You unintentionally helped my point.

If I'm a gaming publisher that is going to release a sequel to a beloved franchise (Elden Ring, FF7 Rebirth, GTA6) I have no incentive to release a disc version as I know the fans will buy it digitally regardless.

Before they may have been the hesistancy to do so because sales would have suffered, but if I can still make the money, not bother with discs and shipping costs, more publishers will go this route.

Hence the writing is on the wall.

@Bez87

All companies are in the business of making profits. If a company can get away with selling it digital only to cut costs, they will.

The backlash from releasing games digital only was severe enough a few years ago that no company would dare do it or risk backlash from the fanbase.

Now they realise people will buy it regardless because they have no choice and they still make their profit. So why ever bother with a physical release that takes away from that?

We don't know how much profit / if any yet has been made on the game, but it being their best selling Remedy game thus far leads me to believe they are happy with its performance.

@ChrisDeku Ok, but talking about Control specifically. The sales were 90% digital in 2020 because people were limited due to the pandemic and not being able to physically shop. In 2021 it was given away on PS+ further skewing its data in favour of digital and after that sales will slow down significantly due to everybody wanting to play it would have by that point.

In the grand scheme of things, people still buy physical media. Bands still release CDs and vinyls and studios still put out DVDs and blu rays. Having the option available leads to more sales overall.

Here is an interesting one, vinyl records last year were at there highest sales since the 1990's,people always want and need options ,happy gaming:)

I’m about 1/3 of the way through, and this game is fantastic so far. Deserves way more sales than this, but it’s really promising it sold 300k/a 33% increase in sales in the past 6wk!

I would make a high wager that they’ll release a physical version at some point, but they want to make sure the digital sales have reached an insignificant number with a steady decline first. Gotta get that higher margin.

With the state most games are at release the physical copy is getting more and more useless. Can you imagine having to play CP2077 with the release code? LOL.
I don’t know, I want to support physical games but I’m guilty. I love the convenience of digital and I buy physical copies only of games I really love, after I bought them digitally.

1,3 millions isn't a big record to be honest. Look at Spiderman 2, this made 10 millions already.
I'd say this is a sign that a lot of people aren't willing to buy Alan Wake 2.

@Darude84 I did the same and couldn't get throught AW1 but trust me, AW2 is a vast improvement in every way. You don't need to play the first to enjoy this one

From this gen I started to collect physical discs of my favorite games, mostly AAA games as I mostly play them...I have no issue with digital but I prefer it on indie games. My point being, I would buy AW2 if it released on disc. Still hoping there will be some GOTY edition one day, but if not, I'll wait until it's in ps+, no rush. Anyway, I'm 100% convinced AW2 would sell significantly more copies when released also on disc. Remedy just does not want to say they were wrong on this, my opinion

@Netret0120

As much as I dislike it, I agree. That being said, I only buy digital when it's dirt cheap, which thankfully happens rather quickly more often than not.