Alan Wake is all about the quality

"Well ”quality” is whats taking so long. Well of course something like this takes its time, we're still even if we've hired more people, a relatively small team when compared to other studios making similar games.

And when you're doing the game you put the quality standards pretty high and you want to make a good game, of course there is also large ambitions from the whole team in every area and that always takes time.. before the game is done."

Sam Lake Interview