GTA Online publisher-funded Max Payne Remake gets new development update

Rockstar Games, the publisher of the popular GTA Online, is supporting the development of Max Payne Remake. The latter is a remake project of two of the classic Max Payne titles of the 2000s, Max Payne 1 and Max Payne 2, currently in development by Remedy Entertainment, and the company recently released a developmental update. The company’s Business Review document for January-March 2024 post of April 29, 2024, revealed more insights on the game’s development progress.

Note: Some aspects of this article are speculative.

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GTA Online developer-funded Max Payne Remake is expected to go into full production soon

The old games were classics for their time (Image via Remedy Entertainment)

According to Remedy Entertainment’s latest Business Review document, the Max Payne Remake, funded by GTA Online's developer Rockstar Games, is “expected to move into full production during the second quarter of 2024.”

Based on their statement, it is evident that the Max Payne Remake project is one of the priorities of the company in the second quarter of 2024. Talking about the development cost of the title, the Remedy Entertainment said the following:

“Development fees increased from the comparison period, mainly due to higher development fees from Max Payne 1&2 remake.”

The statement also confirmed that the development cost of the game has increased compared to last year to match the Remedy’s vision for the remake.

GTA Online’s developer Rockstar Games is also fully behind the project as they are the one funding it. In the March Financial Statement of Remedy Entertainment, the company clearly announced that the “main sources of revenue were the development fees from Max Payne Remake 1&2 remake.”

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Earlier this year:

On February 21, 2024, Remedy Entertainment uploaded two images on Instagram showing illustrations of Max Payne's games. It also seemingly shows One World Trade Center, hinting at a modern New York City setting for the remake. This is what the company wrote as the caption for the images:

“New Max Payne decals are now gracing some of our office spaces and meeting rooms at Remedy Finland HQ.”

Players can expect GTA 6 to be released before the Max Payne Remake project.

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When will the Max Payne remakes be released?

This is the development cycle followed at Remedy Entertainment (Image via Remedy Entertainment)

While no official news has been shared regarding the remake's release date as of this writing, some details point to the game coming out within the next two years.

The above infographic came from Remedy Entertainment back in 2022 regarding their development cycle. Remember, this game is now in the "production readiness" stage.

That alone takes between three to six months. The final stage afterward is known as "full production," which takes between one and two years to reach Alpha. That then takes another three to six months for the Beta stage, which entails quality assurance.

Assuming that the Max Payne Remake is on the upper end of that spectrum, it is likely that the game will come out in the next two years. This assumes it follows the same development cycle as other Remedy Entertainment titles.

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Other news about this project

No shot of the new game has been posted as of this writing (Image via Remedy Entertainment)

Remedy Entertainment's creative director, Sam Lake, had an interview with VGC back on September 28, 2023, stating the following about this game:

"It is a significant undertaking in the sense that even if they are old games, just thinking about bringing them up to modern standards and combining them into one, you can see that it's a big, big project..."

Sam stated that the upcoming game is going to be a huge project, although he couldn't reveal too much at the time.

The Max Payne 1 and 2 remakes are slated to be bundled together and will be available on PC, PS5, and the Xbox Series X|S sometime in the future. Rockstar Games has been said to be funding the project.

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