Alan Wake 2 Game Director, Kyle Rowley, recently revealed his ambition for Remedy Entertainment: to become the European equivalent of Naughty Dog. In a video interview on the Behind The Voice YouTube channel, Rowley discussed his vision for the Finnish studio, known for its cinematic action-adventure games.
The Naughty Dog Inspiration
Rowley, who has worked on games like Quantum Break, expressed his admiration for Naughty Dog's work, particularly the Uncharted series.
"When I came to Quantum Break, I was just excited about working on something that had... you know, one of my favorite games at the time was Uncharted, and I knew that we were going to do something that... I remember having a discussion with our lead animator at the time, and I was like, I think that we should be aiming to kind of be like the European version of Naughty Dog. Like, that would be cool if we could kind of get that same level of feel, and that was the type of game that I like to play, and so I was excited about working on it."
The comparison isn't far-fetched. Both Remedy and Naughty Dog create action-adventure games with a strong emphasis on cinematic storytelling. While Naughty Dog games tend to sell more, they also come with significantly larger budgets. For instance, The Last of Us Part II cost $220 million, while Alan Wake 2 cost €70 million. However, Remedy has also made smaller budget games like Control, which only cost €30 million.
Shifting Territories
Naughty Dog is venturing into sci-fi territory with its new IP, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, while Remedy seems to be following Naughty Dog's lead in adapting game IPs into live-action films/TV. Naughty Dog has found success with Uncharted and The Last of Us adaptations, and Remedy is working with Annapurna on Alan Wake 2 and Control adaptations.
