The opening line of Alan Wake proves that Stephen King’s books thoroughly inspired Remedy Entertainment.

Sam Lake, the lead writer of the upcoming Alan Wake sequel, spoke to Eurogamer about the fair offer his colleague made to the Finnish studio. King could have asked for a large sum to use one of his famous quotes, but in a noble gesture, for a single dollar, Remedy could quote that particular phrase nearly for free!

“Creating the original Alan Wake, I desperately wanted a quote from him to start it off. I understand he wanted $1 for us to get the rights to use it. [It was] so very generous,” Lake said.

And in Alan Wake, “Stephen King once wrote: nightmares exist outside logic, and there is little pleasure in explanations; they are the opposite of the poetry of fear. In a horror story, the victim keeps asking why, but there can’t and shouldn’t be an explanation. It is the unanswered mystery that will stay with us the longest, and that is what we will remember in the end.” Stephen King’s quote is from a 2008 Entertainment Weekly article. It was titled “Why Hollywood can’t do horror“, in which King pointed out the inability of prominent studios to develop horror films for a larger audience. His statement is still valid today because, if you think about it, there are not many horror films that are blockbusters. And yet, a decade and a half have passed since King was quoted; it is no coincidence that he can be considered one of the genre’s greats…

Alan Wake II, powered by the Northlight Engine, will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC on the Epic Games Store on October 17, as Tim Sweeney’s company has funded the game’s development. Hopefully, the Finns will quickly recoup Epic Games’ costs to get royalties from sales.

Source: VGC