Remedy Entertainment, the original Max Payne development team, plans on remaking the first two titles in partnership with Rockstar Games. Such news has been a long time coming, especially when considering Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive's recent tease of new Max Payne projects. The tease in question made the rounds following a February 2022 earnings call with investors, wherein Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick expressed an interest in revisiting older IP and used images from Max Payne 3 as an example. Reportedly, stills from L.A. Noire and Midnight Club were also featured in the slideshow.
The original Max Payne hit store shelves in the summer of 2001, inviting players to join the titular character in a noir-style adventure. New York City sat at the forefront of the experience, its gritty underbelly accentuated by Remedy's crafty story about a cop-turned-vigilante. A sequel, The Fall of Max Payne, followed in 2003, once more demonstrating the studio's storytelling prowess. Rockstar Games, the publisher behind Max Payne 2, brought the character back for a third installment in 2012 - 10 years after Take-Two acquired the IP.
Without offering much in the way of concrete details, Remedy (via Wario64/Twitter) has announced remakes for Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. The studio will partner with Rockstar Games to see the project through to completion, with the final product itself expected to launch as a "single title" for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S platforms. Remedy's proprietary Northlight engine will power this endeavor, the company said in a statement while also noting that the remakes, funded by Rockstar, currently sit in the conceptual phase of development.
Remedy's use of its proprietary Northlight Engine should work wonders for the Max Payne remakes. The technology powered 2016's Quantum Break and 2019's Control, both of which proved exemplary in terms of visuals and performance. Northlight will also bring life to the long-awaited Alan Wake II, a sequel that currently remains on track for a nebulous 2023 release on PC and current-gen consoles.
Max Payne elevated gaming in many respects upon its initial release over 20 years ago. In addition to pushing the envelope in terms of storytelling, the inventive bullet-time mechanic left an indelible mark on a generation of players and developers alike. Given how the medium has evolved in the years since Max's last adventure, it'll be interesting to see how the crew at Remedy Entertainment chooses to reimagine the first two outings for modern audiences.
The Max Payne remakes are in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Remedy (via Wario64/Twitter)