Upcoming Alan Wake Update Will Remove David Bowie's Space Oddity From the Soundtrack, Replace It With a New Original Song
Remedy Entertainment will soon issue an update for the original Alan Wake that will remove one of its songs on PC.
The studio announced the news in a post on the official Alan Wake X/Twitter account, saying that the changes will arrive in a few days, starting September 10 at 11 a.m. UTC. It’s an update that will affect Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG versions of the 2010 experience, removing David Bowie’s classic ‘60s tune, Space Oddity.
🛠️ Alan Wake (2010) will receive an update on September 10th at 11am UTC. The update will be to all PC versions (Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG).
This update removes the song Space Oddity from the game due to changes in licensing, and replaces it with a new original song by Petri… pic.twitter.com/Eem40e6vRd
— Alan Wake 2 (@alanwake) September 5, 2024
The dreamy rock song appears in Alan Wake to bookend the story as it plays over its credits sequence. It’s a notable finale for the adventure that eventually picks back up in Alan Wake 2, but Remedy isn’t leaving fans without a proper replacement. When Bowie’s spacey song is removed from Alan Wake, an original song written by Petri Alanko called Strange Moons will take its place. The composer has worked with the studio on projects like Control and Alan Wake 2 in the past, so while we can’t hear what Strange Moons sounds like yet, expect it to fit in with the atmosphere fans love the series for.
Remedy notes that Alan Wake Remastered, which released in 2021, will not be affected by the impending update. Meanwhile, Alanko took to X to tease what Strange Moons has in store, saying that a slice of the song was once included in an original Alan Wake level that was “cut out long before release.”
Written from a point of view of an astronaut who does have quite a few problems. But even _that_ is okay, as it is what it is. It wasn’t completely out of scratch (heh), as a section of the song was originally in a level in OG AW, but that level was cut out long before release. https://t.co/eqnlzga4bK
— Petri Alanko (@Peppepappa) September 5, 2024
Expired music licenses have impacted games in the past, so while it may be disappointing to hear Alan Wake join the list of affected titles, it isn’t a complete shock. Just earlier this year, Yager Development’s Spec Ops: The Line suffered an even worse fate when publisher 2K announced that it would be completely delisting the experience from a number of digital storefronts due to the expiration of “several partnership licenses related to the game.” While it wasn’t explicitly stated that the 2012 third-person shooter’s removal was related to music licenses, many believe the frequent appearance of notable songs in-game is to blame.
We gave the PC version of Alan Wake a 9/10 in our review, saying, “Remedy has built a world that, despite being a fantastical realm of twisting shadows and realities, is solidly anchored in authenticity.” With or without Bowie, the franchise will continue to be a part of Remedy’s connected universe of IP. The studio’s future plans include movies based on some of its franchises and Control 2.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
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