Remedy Entertainment's CEO Tero Virtala recently revealed as part of a business review (for the months January-March 2023) that its remakes of Max Payne & Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne have now entered "a proof of concept" stage (Thanks PSU!).
Remedy was the original creator of both Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, but was only briefly involved with the third game as a consultant, with the rights holders Rockstar Games instead responsible for that title's development. Last April, however, Remedy made the shocking announcement that it had reached an agreement with Rockstar to return to the series to create a new set of remakes based on the first two neo-noir shooters.
These are expected to release on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S before 2025, as hinted in a May 2022 investor meeting.
Virtala said earlier this month about the progress of these remakes:
"Max Payne 1&2 remake has progressed well and during the first quarter the project moved into the proof-of-concept stage. The development team has worked efficiently in proving the key elements of what Max Payne is all about and in bringing the game in high quality to today’s consoles and PCs. We expect the project to keep advancing well and with that, the team size will expand gradually towards year-end."
This will likely be exciting news for those who can't wait to re-experience the series's blend of bullet-time action and gritty detective storytelling. If that's you, you may also be glad to learn that you can already purchase the originals on various storefronts, including Steam.