In a fantastic, surprise announcement, Remedy announced today that they’ve reached an agreement with Rockstar Games to remake Max Payne 1 & 2. The titles will be remade as a single package for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series consoles.
Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games, issued the following statement:
“We were thrilled when our long-time friends at Remedy approached us about remaking the original Max Payne games,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games “We are massive fans of the work the Remedy team has created over the years, and we can’t wait to play these new versions.”
Tero Virtala, CEO of Remedy Entertainment, also had the following to say:
“Max Payne has always held a special place in the hearts of everyone at Remedy, and we know the millions of fans worldwide feel the same,” said Remedy CEO, Tero Virtala. “We’re hugely excited to be working with our partners at Rockstar Games once again for the chance to bring the story, action and atmosphere of the original Max Payne games back to players in new ways.”
According to the announcement Rockstar will fund the project and Remedy will be responsible for development. The budget is said to be in the AAA range.
Under the development agreement signed today, Remedy will develop the games as a single title for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S using its proprietary Northlight game engine. The game’s development budget will be financed by Rockstar Games, the size of which will be in line with a typical Remedy AAA-game production. Under the agreement, Remedy has a royalty opportunity after Rockstar Games has recouped its development, marketing, and other costs for distributing and publishing the game.
Our Take
This is simply fantastic. While we of course wish it was the entire trilogy, it’s going to be amazing to see Max Payne brought back to the spotlight and updated for the modern generation. While it sounds like it’s early in development, we’ll still be paying very close attention to this over the coming years.
