Remedy has announced plans to remake Max Payne 1 and 2 after agreeing a deal with original publisher Rockstar.
The neo-noir action games, known for their bullet-time gameplay, return as a single title for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, and are built with Remedy’s own Northlight game engine.
According to Remedy, Rockstar is footing the bill for development. The studio behind Alan Wake and Control said the remake’s development budget is “in line with a typical Remedy AAA-production”.
Remedy will receive royalty payments after Rockstar has recouped its development, marketing and other distribution and publishing costs.
“We were thrilled when our long-time friends at Remedy approached us about remaking the original Max Payne games,” said Rockstar founder Sam Houser.
“We are massive fans of the work the Remedy team has created over the years, and we can’t wait to play these new versions.”
“Max Payne has always held a special place in the hearts of everyone at Remedy, and we know the millions of fans worldwide feel the same,” said Remedy CEO Tero Virtala.
“We’re hugely excited to be working with our partners at Rockstar Games once again for the chance to bring the story, action and atmosphere of the original Max Payne games back to players in new ways.”
The project is currently in the concept development stage, Remedy said.
The original Max Payne came out on PC in 2001. It was released the following year on the Xbox and the PS2.
Last year, celebrating Max Payne’s 20th birthday, Remedy released an anniversary video featuring Sam Lake, the primary writer of the game and whose likeness was used for Max Payne himself, and James McCaffrey, the voice actor of Payne. The video also features the iconic black leather jacket worn by Payne. It’s below:
It’s a busy time for Remedy - it’s working on Alan Wake 2, two new Control games and now the Max Payne 1 and 2 remake.
