While Alan Wake II is one of the most anticipated titles of 2023, one bit of news deflated the hopes of many for the game: it’ll be a digital only release.

According to developer Remedy, the reason for their shift is due to wanting to keep the price of the game at $60 during a time when many developers have adopted the $70 standard.

The developer was asked again about this matter by MP1st when interviewing the Alan Wake II’s creative director, Sam Lake. He said again there were “no plans” for a physical release, a decision by the company’s management and their publisher.

The game’s publisher being Epic Games is also why on PC the game is an Epic Game Store exclusive.

Many devs also believe the majority of players already only purchase games digitally. Their reasoning on players primarily now purchasing through digital makes sense when looking at sales.

For example, Capcom sees the overwhelming majority of their games sold in such a manner. However, this is likely greatly disappointing to those wanting to keep a physical copy of the long-awaited game for their collection.

Alan Wake II is set to launch on October 27, 2023 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (via Epic Games Store).