It’s hard to believe that Max Payne’s bullet-riddled journey began 22 years ago, but here we are patiently waiting as Remedy Entertainment and Rockstar craft new iterations of them for Xbox and PS5. Following the success of Alan Wake 2, Remedy appears to be giving its Max Payne remakes the same level of budgetary support, according to a new investor report.
When Remedy initially announced its reunion with Rockstar Games for this project, we learned that it would receive a triple-A backing as a result. Now that the collection of new PS5 games and new Xbox games is in a “production readiness” stage, Remedy confirms that the remakes of Max Payne 1 and 2 have a “similar development budget as Alan Wake 2.” To put that into perspective, the acclaimed horror game reportedly cost $75 million/€70 million to create, according to a report from Finnish outlet Helsingin Sanomat.
It is a massive step-up for two of the best games in Remedy’s library, considering that the first entry cost a meager $3 million to develop, in comparison. On the larger end of the scale, Rockstar’s own iteration with its self-developed and published Max Payne 3 clocked in at a whopping $105 million. However, with Alan Wake 2 becoming Remedy’s fastest selling game ever and Remedy retrieving full ownership of its Control IP, giving Max Payne some big budget polish feels like a logical next step.
The initial confirmation of the Max Payne remakes was back in 2022, and now 2024 will see the project grow exponentially. Alongside Remedy’s Control 2 and spin-off Project Condor, the investor report also details that the “Max Payne 1&2 remake projects [will now] advance to the next stages of development during the first half of 2024.”
This is made possible by the studio’s “refined multi-project model”, allowing “increased focus on Remedy core strengths and the dedication of almost 400 Remedians.”
With the Max Payne remakes utilizing Remedy’s own Northlight engine, there is real potential for them to rank among the best PS5 games and best Xbox games ever. The original trilogy is masterful already, thanks to Sam Lake’s unique blend of noir and surrealistic writing, and the late James McCaffrrey’s phenomenal vocal talent. We just hope that even with some current-gen upgrades, it will still retain the charm of its graphic novel-style storytelling.
In other gaming news, Bungie’s new FPS Marathon is making some drastic character changes, and The Finals could be hatching a plan for an Easter event.