Alan Wake 2 gets release date and a new trailer

Fans of survival horror and tormented writers rejoice: Remedy's Alan Wake 2 now has a solid release date. Following a rough release announcement back at Sony's Playstation Showcase in May, a full release trailer was shown at Summer Games Fest 2023, showing off new gameplay and the date when players will be able to get their hands on a copy of Alan Wake 2.

The trailer, which was presented by Remedy's Creative Director Sam Lake, highlighted one of the major new features being introduced in Alan Wake 2: a second playable character. This character is Saga Anderson, an FBI agent investigating a series of murders with deep ties to the supernatural. According to Lake, her story will play out separately to Alan's, but the two will connect and intertwine at key points. In the segment we see in the trailer, she takes on a stag-headed killer in an abandoned country shack, with atmosphere dripping from every vine-encrusted orifice.

Image via Remedy

The encounter showed off crunchy gunplay and up-close evasive maneuvers, giving a feel for the grounded-yet-flexible combat we can expect in the final game. Saga manages to defeat the beast, then gets down to some boots-on-the-ground police work and proceeds to explore the shack further. Eventually, she uncovers a tattooed human heart in a freezer, before we cut to black. It's an intriguing setup, and a promising sign of things to come in the full release.

Speaking of, the trailer also told us when that crucial date will be. According to the new trailer, Alan Wake 2's release date will be October 17 this year, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. That's just in time for Halloween, so if you’re looking for a creepy tale to enjoy over the spookiest month of the year, then look no further.