Remedy

The original plan for Max Payne: four games set in New York, each in a different season of the year

Scott Miller of Apogee/formerly 3D Realms shares some curious details about the original plans for the Max Payne franchise before it was sold to Take-Two.

Update: Feb 24th, 2023 09:42 EST

Scott Miller, founder of Apogee and formerly 3D Realms, shared on his Twitter account some facts about the future of the Max Payne series if they had not sold the intellectual property to Take-Two Interactive. Four titles, all set in New York, each with a different season of the year as a backdrop.

This is what the future of the Max Payne saga would have looked like had it not been sold to Take-Two

For many, Max Payne 3 was the best game in the saga, while for others it is the black sheep, straying too far from its predecessors. The fact is that this title was developed by Rockstar, while the first two chapters were created by Remedy Entertainment. The reason? The franchise itself was sold to Rockstar Games/Take-Two Interactive for a hefty sum.

Scott Miller, founder of Apogee (formerly 3D Realms), publisher of the first two games of the saga on PC, shares some curious details about the plans they had for the Max Payne saga. On his Twitter account, he said that "Rockstar's Max Payne game (Max 3) was nothing like the direction Remedy/Apogee would have taken the series."

Rockstar's Max Payne game (Max 3) was nothing like the direction Remedy/Apogee would have taken the series. We had in place the plan for each of the first four Max games taking place during a different season (winter, fall, summer, spring) in NYC, revealing a long arc story. https://t.co/Atjxo8wWAs
— Scott Miller - Apogee/3DR Founder☢️ (@ScottApogee) February 4, 2023

Not only that, but he also reveals that the original plan for the saga was to release four video games, all set in New York, each in a different season of the year, all part of a global story arc. In fact, he reveals that the tagline of the second installment, "The Fall of Max Payne," is a play on words, since "fall" in this case refers not only to the fall of Max Payne, but also to the Fall season.

The FALL of Max Payne 🤯
— Will Porter (@Batsphinx) February 4, 2023

The order of the games would have been as follows:

Max Payne (Winter)
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (Fall)
Max Payne 3 (Summer)
Max Payne 4 (Spring)

Miller added that, following the example of the second installment, the tagline for the third installment would have been "The Heat of Max Payne.

Back then I was thinking of the summer edition being called something like The Heat of Max Payne or something along those lines. Hadn't put too much thought into it while working on Max 2.
— Scott Miller - Apogee/3DR Founder☢️ (@ScottApogee) February 4, 2023

In short, had it not been sold to Rockstar Games/Take-Two Interactive, the future of the Max Payne saga would have been very different from what we imagined. We remind you that two remakes of Max Payne (2001) and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (2003) are planned for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X, although they do not have a release date yet.

Source | Scott Miller