LogInUPD: Tim Sweeney has confirmed to 80 Level that the response is indeed his, making Will's screenshot legitimate.
UPD: Tim Sweeney has confirmed to 80 Level that the response is indeed his, making it official that Alan Wake 2 is not coming to Steam.
"Thanks for checking," Sweeney told us in his email. "In general, one should not trust claimed email responses as they are super easy to fake."
Original article: Ever since it was revealed last November that Remedy's 2023 survival horror Alan Wake 2 had sold 1.8 million copies and hadn't recouped its production costs, many fans believed the game still had an ace up its sleeve and could achieve its financial goals by launching on Steam after its exclusivity deal with Epic Games – Alan Wake 2's publisher – expired. However, it appears that won't be the case anytime soon, as a screenshot that recently went viral seemingly confirms that Alan Wake 2 will not launch on Valve's marketplace in the foreseeable future.
Remedy
As shared by a Reddit user named Will (via Pirat_Nation), he reportedly reached out directly to Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney to ask about the release of Alan Wake 2 on Steam, explaining that he isn't a fan of the Epic Games Store and would prefer to either wait for the Steam version or buy an Xbox copy. Sweeney's response was brief, with the CEO confirming that the game "is not coming to Steam," putting an end to the hopes of those who wanted to avoid installing EGS and play the game on PC.
"I am very interested in buying Alan Wake 2. But I am not a fan of the Epic Games Store, so I'd rather wait for it to launch on Steam," the author wrote. "Will this happen within the next year or two? If not, I'll probably just end up buying in on Xbox (but I'd like to play on PC with everything maxed out). I understand Epic funded the game, but I'm sure you guys would make a lot of money if it eventually launched on Steam."
As proof that the screenshot is legitimate, Will shared a screenshot of an email he supposedly received from Sweeney in 2019, also in response to Will's question about EGS exclusivity. "I'm 2/2 on emails to Tim Sweeney," the Reddit user boasted:
At the time of writing, the CEO has yet to officially confirm that Alan Wake 2 is not coming to Steam, so it's wise to take the screenshot with a hefty pinch of salt. If a confirmation does come eventually, it could mean the game may continue recouping its costs at a pace slower than anticipated, despite the Generally Favorable reviews it has received from players.
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