Remedy recently announced that a coming update for Alan Wake will remove the classic David Bowie song Space Oddity from the game, replacing it with the original song Strange Moons, penned by Remedy composer Petri Alanko. However, it seems that this update will not affect Alan Wake Remastered, which came out in 2021.
Arguably one of Bowie’s best-known songs, the galactic rock song that features the iconic line “ground control to Major Tom” originally played over Alan Wake’s closing credits. Though we don’t know what Strange Moons will sound like yet, composer Alanko said on X/Twitter that a part of the song was originally included in an Alan Wake level that was cut prior to the game’s final release.
Music licenses often cause game developers to have to update or even delist their games years after release due to expiring legal contracts. Perhaps the best-known recent example is Spec Ops: The Line, which was delisted from Steam due to “several partnership licenses related to the game…expiring.” While it’s not clear if these are related to music licenses, it’s a shame that one of the most critically acclaimed shooters of the early 2010s is no longer available for the next generations of players to enjoy. Alan Wake 2’s latest DLC, Night Springs, released back in June.
Remedy recently struck a deal with Annapurna to co-finance and self-publish Control 2, and that may result in the production of films or TV shows based on the Control and Alan Wake franchises.