Despite being a critical hit, Alan Wake 2 may have suffered in terms of sales, partly owing to the lack of a physical disc. Remedy Entertainment had said that it opted to make the game digital-only because of a shift in consumer preferences as well as its desire to limit the price tag to $60.
Alan Wake 2 sales remain somewhat of a mystery, and here’s why
Alan Wake 2’s sales are hard to account for because publisher Epic Games doesn’t provide digital data, leaving analysts to estimate its performance based on various factors like player engagement. Circana’s Mat Piscatella reports that during the month of November, Alan Wake 2 ranked 113 on the PS5 and 147 on Xbox consoles in terms of player engagement. Meanwhile, Ampere Analysis estimates that Alan Wake 2 sold around 850,000 copies across consoles.
It’s possible that Alan Wake 2 fared better on PC, but it is worth noting that the game is exclusive to the Epic Games Store, much to its own detriment, considering a significant number of players on other popular platforms like Steam have been left out.
When asked if the situation is as dire as it seems, Piscatella opined that Alan Wake 2 may have benefitted from better marketing and better reach, including a disc release.
It probably didn’t help that Alan Wake 2 launched in a busy period packed with blockbusters like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.
