Matias Myllyrinne: The name of the character is the name of the game. The character and his dilemma is at the centre of the franchise, and we want to build something that can cross over to various forms of entertainment – it's not necessarily restricted to one game or a series of games. It can possibly grow into something larger. Clearly the success, or the relative success, of Alan Wake will define how large that opportunity is, and how much we can build on it.

Sami (Lake) Järvi: We are using television series as a model for storytelling, so... not so much cliffhangers, but I think a good season of a TV series reaches a conclusion but leaves a door open to further things at the same time, so it was very important that the player can reach his goal and Alan Wake gets to a certain kind of conclusion, but at the same time we open a door to something larger. From the very beginning, we have intended Alan Wake to go on beyond the first game, so this is the first step, in a way.

Matias Myllyrinne: To be honest, we're very much betting the farm on this game. We've created it since 2005, and it is kind of like landing on a new continent and bringing the ships - “Guys, you'd better make do on this continent. Survive.” So Alan Wake is something that we've poured our hearts and souls into.

Sami (Lake) Järvi: The project hasn't been the straightest journey from beginning to end. There has been shifting around along the way - developing certain prototypes quite far and then deciding “No, we are not happy with this. This is not what Alan Wake needs to be,” and then shifting to a new direction, and all of that takes time. But that said, at the same time, we are a relatively small team when you look at other developers working on games of similar scope, and we do our own technology and engine and tools, so it takes time.