Remedy says there'd be "no Alan Wake 2 without Epic" after Baldur's Gate 3 dev blames EGS exclusivity for Remedy's "financial crisis"

Remedy Entertainment has leapt to the defense of Epic Games after comments from its CEO, Tim Sweeney, were criticized by Larian Studios' director of publishing, Michael 'Cromwelp' Douse. Following Sweeney's jabs at Steam and an indirect poke at head honcho Gabe Newell, there's been a lot of discussion around why the Epic Games Store struggles to achieve the same level of users and revenue as Valve's platform. However, Douse's critique went one further, claiming that "Remedy seemingly went into financial crisis" after signing a publishing deal with Epic that made Alan Wake 2 an EGS exclusive. Now, the Finnish studio has played down those claims, saying that the deal was "very fair" and that Epic is "an excellent partner to us. Steam or no Steam."

Before getting into these Alan Wake 2 weeds, let me first recap this social media paper trail for you. The Epic Games Store discussion all began after Dave Oshry, the CEO of publisher New Blood Interactive, revealed that one of its games enjoyed a massive Steam sale spike after being made one of the weekly free Epic games. Sweeney then acknowledged this, describing the Epic Games Store freebie initiative as a feature "developers have taken advantage of all along" and one that increases sales on other platforms.

However, in addressing Oshry's claims, Sweeney also began to discuss the differences in approach between the Epic Games Store and Steam. He highlights the option developers and publishers have to process their own payments on EGS, and says that aspects such as the weekly free game giveaways show how Epic "heavily reinvests back into engaging users through the Free Games Program, putting our revenue back to work for developers in a way that those yachts and diamond teeth don't." The reference to yachts and diamond teeth appears to be a snipe at Newell.

Douse took umbrage with Sweeney's remarks, saying: "I understand Epic entirely funded Alan Wake 2 but this altruistic pro-developer talk doesn't sit well when Remedy seemingly went into financial crisis because they couldn't tap Steam for AW2 sales suffering potentially hundreds of millions in lost revenue." The Larian publishing lead added in a follow-up that "the viability of the [Epic Games Store] sits on their ability to convert hundreds of millions of Fortnite players into mid-hardcore premium gamers, and I don't see the Fortnite brand attempting to do that."

Now, Remedy has come to Sweeney and Epic's defense. Replying to Douse's critical X post, the studio's official account says:

"Hi. There would be no Alan Wake 2 without Epic Publishing. The publishing deal with Epic was very fair to Remedy. While these complex deals can often take even a year to reach their conclusion, and may not always be fair to the developer, this one was. And it only took months to get done. Epic Games was, and is, an excellent partner to us. Steam or no Steam."

Alan Wake 2 released in October 2023, and is still exclusive to the Epic Games Store on PC. While Steam users have requested that one of the best horror games of recent years be added to Valve's store, Epic has previously said that its biggest exclusives would remain that way for "a long time."

It's worth noting that such an exclusivity deal wasn't signed for Remedy's next two games. FBC Firebreak launched on both Steam and Epic, and this year's Control Resonant will also be purchasable from both storefronts too.