Alan Wake’s opening Stephen King quote only cost Remedy $1 to use

Turns out that Stephen King quote in the first Alan Wake it was a gift from the author himself, and it only cost Remedy $1.

You don’t need to be a detective to see Stephen King’s influences on the original Alan Wake, even ignoring the fact that the headline Alan quotes him right at the beginning of the game. But in an interview with eurogamer, Remedy boss Sam Lake talked about how important it was to him to include a quote from King himself in the game. “When creating the original Alan Wake, I really desperately wanted a quote from him to start with,” Lake told Eurogamer. “I understand you wanted $1 for us to get the usage rights. [It was] very generous”.

Obviously, a single dollar is a bargain when it comes to intellectual property rights, and it feels pretty good for the overall ethos King seems to exhibit. It’s quite the way to start the game, and it probably wouldn’t be as good an opening without it.

For some context, here’s the full game quote: “Stephen King once wrote: ‘Nightmares exist outside of logic, and there’s little fun in explanations; they are the antithesis of fear poetry.’ In one horror story, the victim keeps asking why, but there can’t be an explanation, and there shouldn’t be. The unanswered mystery is what stays with us the longest and is what we’ll remember in the end.” A strong quote that helps set up what kind of weather you’re going to have!

Of course, the next Remedy is Alan Wake 2, which will be released on October 17. The sequel is supposed to be more of a survival horror game than the first, so King’s influences could be even stronger. It’s a shame it doesn’t get a physical release though.