Remedy Connected Universe: "YES! It's all connected!!!"

[@MattHall]

"There's a sense of legacy and continuity that we want to bring into each game we make. All games should look into the future but also into the past. But sometimes it is a bit harder to do when an old game we did doesn't belong to us anymore, like Max Payne or Quantum Break. Having said that, we want people to feel this sense of unsaid connection between them. And if it's happening, it's not an accident!" - Mikael Kasurinen, the director of Quantum Break, Control, and Control 2

[@completelytransparent6320]

remedy goated

[@CostaReall]

I LOVE Control. Honestly your company's storytelling and worldbuilding are ahead of the industry.

[@Godeias]

I just beat Alan Wake 2, QB is definitely part of the universe

[@himwiththehair8118]

"In one world, there was a writer who wrote a story about a cop. In another world, the cop was real." To my mind Alex Casey and Max Payne are the same person, under different names. In one world, Jesse Faden is Director of the FBC, but in another world, she is Beth Wilder and a former Monarch agent. In one world, Alex Casey is a fictional cop written by Alan Wake, but in another world, the cop is real and his name is Max Payne.

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

Totally. I have a feeling that the next few Remedy releases will bring some more clarity to all of this.

[@madamminalost]

SAMantha WELLS, SAMmy WATERSOM. I see you SAM LAKE

[@penyuwan]

If you listen the translation of the song Sankarin Tango in Control it tells you all of Remedy's protagonist even Jack Joyce in Quantum Break. They are all connected.

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

Wow, I never bothered to check out the translated lyrics before. Thanks for the heads up!

[@raulportela3039]

It's a shame QB isn't a part of the official canon, because I love the theory that Mr. Hatch and Mr. Door are the same person.

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

I would love to see Lance Reddick return to play Mr. Door!

[@raulportela3039]

@@HiddenMachineGaming I would saw off one of my arms if he showed up in a post credit tease in Alan Wake 2

[@Foxtrop13]

nothing really stops Remedy from casting the same actors for another story, maybe money and logistic

[@maxentirunos]

It always felt to me like with Alex Casey. They made Alan Wake write Max Payne renamed as Alex Casey because Max Payne IP was Taken by Rockstar. And they decided to do the same with QB and it's characters by giving them a slightly different name in their IP like Door and Hatch

[@Arthus850]

@@HiddenMachineGaming never gonna happen now.

[@naysgameopinions]

Kind of off topic and on topic at the same time. All of this is the reason why I love the Remedy Universe. Kingdom Hearts is also doing similar things. There are dream realms, time travel, different realities, etc. Kingdom Hearts spoilers (just in case) Just recently in KH3, in the Toy Story world there is a videogame in the mall with a character that directly mimics Noctis, not from Final Fantasy 15, but the Final Fantasy Versus 13 version. That character shows up in the secret ending and at the end of the dlc to meet Sora in the "real" world where he explains that he knows Sora but they are basically seeing each other as different people. Now with the introduction of an "unreality" realm, it's really turning this fiction and nonfiction thing upside down in the KH universe. With us the player, playing as Sora, questioning if a character and the world they are from is a videogame or real with their entire premise being based on a real game that was canceled and brought back in a different way. Not to get too into it here, but it's possible for it to get real interesting with the many ways of time travel and the fact that Sora literally broke how existence works because of the way he abused his power and had to be written out of existence in order for.....order to exist. Ha. Anyways, I love concepts like this. I like anything with deep lore and interesting entangled stories.

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

That's such a fun idea, I love that those games are exploring that!

[@hubdweller9969]

In regards to the name change of the Bureau, I think Remedy (intentionally or not) left themselves an out in the House of Dreams blog--because if I remember correctly, her interaction with the Agent where she saw the "AWE" badge/labeling was thought to her to have been a dream. It's not outside the realm of possibility that the FBC could have either used a surreptitious or borderline-paranatural method of obtaining the Shoe Box without Samantha witnessing it, but her dreams/Zane/The Bright Presence could have "warned" her about this occurring. And as in dreams in Remedy Games, other media, *and* in real life, sometimes the details are muddled, so she saw AWE on the agent instead of FBC.

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

Great point!

[@WestCero]

The way I think it works is that Quantam Break and Max Payne are connected to the RCU in the teams mind but they have to have plausible deniability for copyright sake

[@valorin5762]

There lots and lots very direct connections between Alan Wake and Control, and a few "easter eggs" in Quantum Break, like the Alan Wake movie scene, board and the AWE graffiti. But there's a lot more hidden in the dark... like this one: Right at the start of Alan Wake, the poem... "... there lied a deeper, darker ocean green. Where waves are BOTH WILDER and MORE SERENE. To it's PORTS I've been..." Looking at Quantum Break, where BETH WILDER and PAUL SERENE are key characters and which is set in RIVERPORT. (a river also being a body of water...) Also, Dylan says at some point that in the one world a writer wrote about a cop and in another world, the cop was alive. Aaaand he also mentions a "Mr. Door", and a door and a hatch have similiar functions... Concerning continuity, like the name-change of the FBC: Sam Lake is a fan of David Lynch, and if you look at continuity in Twin Peaks alone, you will find that it is broken in several places. Very deliberately in this case, but well... For me it just adds to the mystery having that in the Remedy-verse as well.

[@roonkolos]

Personally i still see Max Payne & Quantum Break as part of the RCU in some way or another They may not be under their banner legally but they still made those games. They absolutely fall into it if and when they can

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

Agreed!

[@christopherboggon9054]

I feel like every game is a spiritual sequel to all of their other games at the same time. I think they’ve left the connection open enough for multiple theories to be allowed and they’re going to keep feeding into that and adding more. One theory I have is that every game is a story written by Alan Wake so Max Payne is a prototype Alex Casey, Quantum Break has the tv show Return about Alan which could be an attempt to alert those characters of his situation use and time travel to help him and Control is Alan creating a bureau that would battle otherworldly forces and help him return. I’m content enough with Quantum Break being another world entirely to the others that we’ll probably never see again, with Mr Hatch being a variant of Mr Door, an AWE from another dimension. It’s hard to ignore the Max Payne connections and I hope that Remedy will remake Max Payne 1&2 to make it more cohesive with the RCU storyline

[@zbaksh101]

I feel like Alan Wake and Control are in canon with each other while Quantum break is off on its own. Max Payne being an event in Alan's world could be interesting. Shared universes are fun.

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

They are fun! It'll be really interesting to see how the Max Payne remakes play into everything

[@MrGrass06]

Great video

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

Thank you!

[@jackrussell1232]

I think since a lot of Sam Lake's writing is so Stephen King inspired it would make sense to have a unifying canon in the same way. I don't know if we'll get into cosmic turtles or anything with Remedy, but there's not much they can't do at this point.

[@sayborgoussawa4424]

-Firstly, I don't think Quantum Break will ever exist in this universe... The only reason Quantum Break separated from the whole universe - Remedy had nothing but Alan Wake on their hands. There is no mention of a Quantum Break story in Control... -There is a segment in the dlc with Alan Wake writing about Jessies. Could it be that the Bureau of control and potentially Jessie exist as a result of Alans writing whilst trapped within the dark place? -Alice Wake reports being haunted by a demonic version of Alan (Mr. Scratch) five years after Mr. Scratch was supposed to be killed. -Sarah Breaker joins the FBC at some point. In the first Alan Wake special, there is a cardboard cutout of Sarah that mentions her joining a secret society that her father was a part of, clearly the FBC -finally, Dylan's scene about dreams... reality like dream and dream like real... and dark man in dark place name Mr.door and writer write story about a cop and in another world, the cop was real... This scene made me lose my mind... ''The idea that the tales told in some of our games would be connected to each other, a connected world of stories and events with shared characters and lore. Each game is a stand-alone experience, but each game is also a doorway into a larger universe with exciting opportunities for crossover events.'' -Sam Lake Thank you Matt for Amazing video...

[@TheVentrexian]

If all the universes are connected, wake and control are in the same one?? QB and max are separate, does that mean the bad guys are all being sent or influenced by one big bad, avengers style? Harder to explain for the more grounded worlds like max lol

[@teabagNBG]

u need to do a new video now with alan wake 2 included

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

Working on it!

[@reni9795]

So, food for thought - a little late to the party - but this topic will absolutely grow prominence as new Remedy content comes out. My theory: Quantum Break precedes everything in the universe, it's the "Break" point which later leads into the universe we currently focus on in Control/Alan Wake. The game's branching narrative timelines are ALL canon, as it's implied and details that their universe has gone in an endless loop - one which many characters, especially Paul Serene - believe cannot be broken. Given the nature of the science fiction, it's important to understand that the possibilities are infinite - however, we really only inhibit one universe (our Remedyverse, we get to collectively experience). At the end of Quantum Break, in one of the endings, it's heavily implied that Jack won't give up trying to save Beth. It's reasonable to suspect that these efforts later break and reshape the universe into the Remedy-verse we currently inhibit, given certain implications of avoiding what is dubbed "The end of time" in 2021. I feel that certain characters become key in keeping everything connected here. Paul Serene, the only character to have seen the end of time, and from there - set out to try and ensure mankind's survival, but saw the loop as inevitable. He later becomes consumed by Chronon Syndrome, which manifests as shifting, Red Toned corruption that now can interact across dimensions. I believe this is the catalyst which develops into the resonance-based Hiss, the individual known as Paul, dying when Jack kills him before his ultimate transformation before interacting with the SFC. More recently, could even be manifesting as "Mr Scratch". Hatch (aka Door), the mysterious CEO of Monarch (and it's own board) is shown throughout the game to be in a unique state of quantum superposition. Even if he "dies" as a result of player choice, he still somehow appears later in the game. This predisposition only develops more consistency as the Remedyverse comes into what we know. He later gets quite romantically close to a certain Nordic goddess... Jack (Tim Breaker, AW2), Beth (Jesse), and for some reason (likely just because he was close to the prior 2) - Will (Shaun) never gave up, and eventually succeeded at stopping the end of time, shuffling the universe into what we know as the Remedyverse - but retaining semblances of their own individuality. This manifests in how they seem to "remember" each other in dreams, and to Will/Shaun's detriment - how his paranoid beliefs lead him to become influenced by the Hiss. Casper Darling / Alan Wake - At the end of Control, it's revealed that Casper's fate remains unknown, but implied that he entered a different plane of existence. Given how central time travel was in Quantum Break, it's not unreasonable to suspect that Alan Wake is an alternate version of a Casper who has travelled and seen so much that he's forgotten his true origins, and has began to develop into something of a resonance-based entity himself, in how Bright Falls/Night Falls manifests reality bending AWEs through artistic intent. There's a LOT left untouched here, but I feel this is the key parts needed to connect it all at the foundations. Now that Alan Wake 2 is out, and many, many details confirm all these connections - it's going to be really fun to explore.

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

I love all this, thank you for sharing!

[@Chidulo]

It should find movie names on social media

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

Okay yeah

[@hubdweller9969]

See, I keep hearing that Alan Wake: Remastered retconned things, but I've not been able to find a list/video of relevant changes--are there actually significant easter eggs/retcons beyond that letter in Sheriff Breaker's office? Edit: Okay, I watched farther in, I'm seeing the visuals and hearing your explanations, I still feel like someone should still make a comparison video of sorts for the two titles, but for references and canonicity, as opposed to the graphics (which is the only kind of video I can find...)

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

Good point. I'll put something like that together! There aren't any major changes, mostly things like the letter you mentioned and the poster that I showed. There are also some minor changes to the map, and many more mentions of Watery. I'll do a full comparison in the coming weeks.

[@hubdweller9969]

@@HiddenMachineGaming Awesome! I just always thought it odd, since it's been nearly 2 years at this point that Remastered has been out, but there's been no real "full" comparison between the two titles, beyond the graphics comparisons and that one letter. I'd play the part of the broken record and attribute it to Remastered being sequestered to the EGS, but you and Gaming U have heard me ramble on about that point many times, so I'll save you the headache.

[@ThousandairesClub]

*Control 2 gonna be so fire* 🔥💀

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

We are so pumped

[@VegetaEx]

Love your Video, from what were the Real Life Scenes like around Minute 8?

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

Thanks! They are from the Bright Falls web series.

[@modernmobster]

I prefer it that Max Payne is NOT part of this shared universe. It feels wholely separate from the other properties and is more grounded. Alex Casey works as a nod to Max Payne, but is more open to interpretation because he is separate.

[@jrena9443]

His jacket is a object of power that lets him slow time down

[@Ľubor_Fabian]

Sooo this is all parallel universe...on universe.

[@radagast7200]

I haven't played much of these, but I started playing AW2 and there are norse myth references everywhere. Is that typical of these games or is this one unique in that respect.

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

Super typical, all the way back to Max Payne.

[@radagast7200]

@HiddenMachineGaming sweet. I need to go play them all. When I saw the van that said "Valhalla Nusing Home" I just about died laughing.

[@halucinujte]

love the vid

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

Thank you!

[@jerric1228]

I’ve always found content like this to be annoying, because it’s usually in for the form of something like, a Disney Easter egg that isn’t meant to be taken so seriously. I’ve even seen someone aggressively argue that because there’s a reused asset of a nirnroot on the prydwin in FO4, that fallout and TeS Skyrim must share a universe. It’s like saying a chair evolves into a table because you can find the same screws in both, when it’s simply just a shared creator. That said, I like this, it feels more intentional and meaningful, and it resonates with other ideas I’ve heard that caught my interest as far as how our reality might not be what we think. As a super brief example, there’s a theory that the Simpsons aren’t Illuminati connected nor are the predicting the future(if you don’t know what I’m talking about then look into the Simpsons predicting the future if that interests you). What the theory suggests is, that time isn’t as linear as we think it is, and that some times there are events so impactful that it’s like a stone creating ripples in a pond. Artists are often tapping into a creative energy they don’t fully understand, they simply feel inspired to do things the way they do, and in some of these cases they could be influenced by something that hasn’t happened yet, and this at the moment seems benign but later looks prophetic.

[@HiddenMachineGaming]

Glad you enjoyed the video! I totally get where you're coming from. It can be easy to make connections that aren't there, but Remedy is much more intentional and clever than that, and create in a way that encourages people to find those connections for themselves, and Remedy really celebrates that phenomenon in all of their works.

[@darklingalley]

Love this! We haven't played Max Payne or Quantum Break, so we know very little about how those tie in- Quantum Break in particular. Great job explaining. Much appreciated

[@somethingtoputonpizza6667]

(Max Payne connected universe) Max Payne: where is your hair? Max Payne: I shaved it thinking it would help me bend in Brazil Max Payne: that's a terrible idea also why is he 2D? Max Payne: no idea Alex Casey: why are you always with a smug on your face? Max Paynes: quite fake us