Fix for replacing Bowie song from Alan Wake due to ‘licensing’

Ground Control to Major Tom, Remedy Entertainment Removes David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” From Alan Wakker‘s credits and replaced with a brand new original theme. Remedy announced that the song would be removed in an update on September 10th, something that was required due to “licensing changes”. Bummer!

The new song is called “Strange Moons”, which comes from Alan Wakker And Control composer Petri Alanko. Alanko said in a message On X, the song is “written from the perspective of an astronaut who has a lot of issues” — but he’s at peace with it. He adapted the song from a piece of music that was originally attached to a cut Alan Wakker level that was removed “long before release.” The song does not appear to be available online yet, but Polygon has reached out to Remedy for more information.

Remedy’s path this time is a relief for the future Alan Wakker players — don’t put anything down, as happened in 2017 with Alan Wakker and, especially this year with Yager Development’s Spec Ops: The Line. 2K Games said it was pulled due to licensing issues.

Of course, it’s still sad to see the Bowie song go – it was a memorable touchstone that framed the first Alan Wake game. There are few games where people actually remember what the credits are on. Still, Remedy has chosen the best possible path forward by replacing the song. Alan Wakker fans get new music!