We’ve been waiting on a Max Payne remake for a while now, and it seems like it will be even longer before we see the fruits of Remedy Entertainment’s labor. The good news is that the studio is planning something big with the in-development project.
In an interview with VGC, Remedy’s creative director Sam Lake was about the upcoming remake and the studio’s initial announcement hinted that the project will be a substantial endeavor. Lake confirmed that the Max Payne remake will be quite huge, with Remedy planning on merging the first two installments into a single release.
“It is a significant undertaking in the sense that even if they are old games, just thinking about bringing them up to modern standards and combining them into one, you can see that it’s a big, big project,” Lake revealed.
He was also asked if he would be reprising his role as Max from the original game. Lake laughed at the suggestion. “No comment!” he responded. “That’s going too far.”
Lake held several roles in the development of the first Max Payne game. He was its story writer and level designer. Due to budget constraints, Remedy could not afford to hire actors and instead used Lake as the face model for Max Payne in the original game. His mother also ended up playing the main antagonist in the first game while his father was cast as Alfred Woden.
Fast forward to two decades later and Remedy is in a much better place now. For one, it can afford to cast actual voice actors and build a connected multi-game universe. But, it’s not about to forget what put it on the map.
Remedy announced in April 2022 that it was working on the remakes of the first two Max Payne installments, with the help of Rockstar Games. Both will launch as part of a compilation on the PC and next-gen consoles. Furthermore, the upcoming bundle will take advantage of Remedy’s proprietary game engine, Northlight, which it debuted in Quantum Break and has been used to create breathtaking titles like Control and Alan Wake 2.
Rockstar will be financing the development budget for the remakes which is reportedly on par with the typical Remedy AAA game production. Once Rockstar recoups the cost of development, marketing, and other expenses, Remedy will have the opportunity to earn royalties from future game sales.
The demand for remakes has been very high in recent months. The remake for Resident Evil 4 sold over 3 million units in just two days, highlighting the huge market for remakes. It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that the Max Payne remakes would sell as well as the Resident Evil 4 remake due to the popularity of the original games.
Remedy has not yet revealed a release date for the Max Payne remakes, but it’s likely part of Take-Two’s massive lineup of games through 2025.
