SPOILERS AHEAD for Alan Wake, Alan Wake 2, and Control.
Summary
Remedy Entertainment’sAlan Wake 2was released in October 2023, and went on to be one of the most acclaimed games of the year, winning in three categories at The Game Awards 2023, including Best Narrative, and currently sitting at a 92 Metacritic score. After a 13-year gap between the original,Alan Wake 2’s continuation of its eponymous author’s trials and tribulations trapped in the alternate reality dimension known as the Dark Place by the powerful and malevolent Lovecraftian Dark Presence was widely considered to be Remedy’s most polished accomplishment to date.
Prior toAlan Wake 2, Remedy shippedControlin 2019, the studio’s SCP-like and conspiracy theory-influenced action thriller.Control 2was previously announced in 2022, and is currently in the proof-of-concept stage. Given the fact that the first title coincided with the official unveiling of Remedy’s plans to unite its releases under what it dubbed The Remedy Connected Universe (RCU, or Remedyverse),ControlandAlan Wakethus have an intimate relationship with each other. In 2024,Alan Wake 2is set to receive two DLCs which promise to further expand on the RCU lore, characters, and overall story, and will almost assuredly have strong links and setups forControl 2to some degree.
OfAlan Wake 2’s upcoming DLCs,Night Springscurrently has a “Spring” release window, whileThe Lake Houseis stated to be “coming later,” possibly in the Fall if Remedy maintains its previous pattern.
Alan Wake 2’s DLCs Are Likely to Have Big Connections to Control 2
Alan Wake, Control, and The Remedy Connected Universe
Remedy’s ambitious vision for its Remedyverse began withControl’s second and final piece of DLC,AWE. In it,Control’s protagonist, Jesse Faden, begins seeing visions of and receiving messages from Alan via its setting of The Oldest House’s “interdimensional hallway,” The Oceanview Hotel. This same hotel appeared as an important location inAlan Wake 2, as Alan navigated through it himself in his efforts to escape the looping nightmare landscape the Dark Presence was keeping him in. In the developer’s signature meta-way, the Oceanview serves as an otherworldly connective thread that bridges both series, as its heroes come into contact with each other and attempt to convey the nature of their respective dilemmas while working together to remedy them, although this was left open-ended.
How Alan Wake 2’s DLCs Could Connect to Control 2
WithAlan Wake 2Final Draft mode’s new ending, which updated and changed the base conclusion in a major way, the writer is poised to return, possibly in a kind of ascended guide or mentor role, as in the final scene Alan stated that he had become “a master of many worlds,” heavily implying an ability to traverse space-time realities at will. This will probably fit with the framework of theNight SpringsDLC, as the character of Sheriff Tim Breaker was last seen still adrift in the Dark Place, in a scenario closely resembling one from the titular fictionalTwilight Zone-inspired TV series that is part ofAW’s world.
However, mirroring the case ofControlandAWE,Alan Wake 2’sLake HouseDLCis the more likely piece of content to directly reference or hint at what might be in store forControl 2. The Lake House itself inAW2is already connected toControl’s FBC, as it is one of the secretive agency’s outposts, set up to monitor and help contain supernatural catastrophes, like the one occurring inAlan Wake 2. FBC Agent Kiran Estevez showed up during the plot to assist Alan and FBI Agent Saga Anderson in their battle against the Presence, acting as their liaison to the organization. It is therefore highly probable that in the same manner thatAWEbrought Alan into Jesse’s world,The Lake Housewill do the same similarly for Jesse, strengthening the groundwork between the two and laying out howControl 2will continue building the RCU.
