Sam Lake "politely" asked Alan Wake 2 devs to kill him more violently: "There was hardly any blood in the first iteration"

Alan Wake 2 review screenshot
(Image credit: Remedy)

Before Alan Wake 2 came out and shook up the 2023 GOTY conversation, director Sam Lake wasn't satisfied with his character's death scene because in his view it wasn't sufficiently bloody.

According to Lake, Alex Casey's death scene in the Initiation 2 (Casey) chapter of Alan Wake 2 originally wasn't very bloody at all. It wasn't until Lake stepped in and insisted his character's death be more violent that we got the scene as we know it today.

"There was hardly any blood in the first iteration of Casey dying in the alley," Lake said, adding that he "politely" asked for "a LOT more" blood in the scene. He even had the cheek to put an innocent angel emoji in the tweet. Sam Lake, you devil, you.

The actual murder of Sam Lake's character isn't seen, but you can hear him fighting for his life off-screen, and it indeed sounds pretty darn violent. It would be a little awkward if there was no blood at the murder scene. Basically, I'd say Lake made the right call when he asked for more evidence of what sounded like a pretty brutal struggle.

You also have to sympathize with the developers in this situation who were asked by their boss to make his death scene even more gruesome. I can only hope there's a screenshot somewhere of that conversation that was saved as evidence that Lake himself asked for this. It's not every day you get to destroy our own likeness, or your boss's. 

Alan Wake 2's second and final DLC, The Lake House, is expected to arrive sometime in October.

Are you one of the few fans that noticed these neat Alan Wake 2 audio cues the devs are thrilled to finally see discovered?

Jordan Gerblick

After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

Read more
Alan Wake 2 screenshot showing a live-action Alan standing in front of a stage curtain
The Remedy Connected Universe that ties Alan Wake 2 and Control is "just getting started" with no endgame in sight, says Sam Lake
Alan Wake 2 trailer
Before taking the lead on Alan Wake 2, its game director wanted Remedy to be the "European Naughty Dog" because "Naughty Dog games are f***ing awesome"
The clip selection screen in Immortality, highlighting a clip of Marrisa Marcel with the director of Ambrosio
"Part of the genesis of Immortality was the three years I spent making a Legacy Of Kain game that got cancelled": Sam Barlow on the making of his "interactive movie"
Pyramid Head stands in the rain in the Silent Hill 2 remake.
Silent Hill 2 remake director had no choice but to make Pyramid Head "more aggressive and faster" during his iconic fight: "We've been losing something, but we've been gaining something, too"
Silent Hill 2 Remake
Silent Hill 2 remake dev says Bloober played up the original's iconic toilet scene to punish its protagonist for being a bad husband: "The theme here is disgust"
Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima says he'll "apologize beforehand" for Death Stranding 2 moments with Troy Baker's Higgs which are "so ridiculous" that "you'll probably throw the controller"
Latest in Alan Wake
Alan Wake 2 screenshot showing a live-action Alan standing in front of a stage curtain
The Remedy Connected Universe that ties Alan Wake 2 and Control is "just getting started" with no endgame in sight, says Sam Lake
Alan Wake 2 screenshot of Saga Anderson
As Remedy nearly breaks even with Alan Wake 2 sales, Sam Lake tells investors "we strive to create commercial hits" but "we must never lose" the studio's special sauce
Alan Wake 2
"Many times it seemed the game would never get made": Alan Wake 2 is "finally complete" thanks to its new DLC, but even its director says "no one knows about the future"
Alan Wake 2: The Lake House
Alan Wake 2's Lake House DLC sold me on Control 2 quicker than playing Control did
Alan Wake 2 review screenshot
Sam Lake "politely" asked Alan Wake 2 devs to kill him more violently: "There was hardly any blood in the first iteration"
Alan Wake 2 live action screenshot showing Alan being interviewed by Mr Door
Remedy confirms the Alan Wake AMC TV series is dead as it announces new partnership with Annapurna to "develop and produce Control and Alan Wake franchises for film and television"
Latest in News
A screenshot from MindsEye showing a character leaning out of a car, shooting another car with a gun.
GTA veteran says the games industry needs to "get smarter" about what people actually want: "There are so many games, and I think we're starting to feel the effects"
Posing with a rifle in the Fallout 76 Ghoul update
Fallout 76's art director "had to fight really hard" so Bethesda would make the MMO's map bigger than Skyrim's
Minecraft movie image of Jack Black as steve
Don't expect Minecraft to go free-to-play anytime soon, as Mojang says "It doesn't really work with the way we built it"
Yasuke looking over the water to a shrine during sunset in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows has an entire island stuffed with adorable kittens you need to check out, and it's based on an actual Japanese cat paradise
phase zero key art showing zombies in a hallway
Former Witcher 3 and Dying Light devs reveal their Resident Evil homage, complete with PS1-style fixed cameras
Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System was only created because WB Games wanted something to combat Batman Arkham Asylum's second-hand sales, exec says