This Road & Alan Wake 2: The Story Behind the Song
How A 2012 Deep Cut Became The Emotional Core Of A 2-Million-Selling, BAFTA-Winning Franchise
The story behind Poe's "This Road" and its place inside Alan Wake 2 - one of the most decorated video games of the last decade.
Most licensed music in video games works like a needle drop: a song plays, a mood lands, the scene moves on. Alan Wake 2 did something rarer. It built structure around a song that already existed - one Poe had written more than a decade before the game was ever announced.
A Track Ahead Of Its Time
Poe wrote "This Road" back in 2012. It existed simply as part of her own catalog, one more piece of work released into the world - until Sam Lake, Remedy Entertainment's creative director and the real-world face and voice behind Alan Wake himself, came across it in one of her videos.
He didn't forget it. Lake reached out directly, told her what the track meant to him, and asked whether she'd bring it into the world he was building. She said yes, licensed the song, and the two worked together to reshape it for the game.
"Fused Consciousnesses"
The result, according to the official soundtrack's own liner notes, was a genuine collaboration:
"Music artist POE and Sam Lake fused consciousnesses to birth four parts of the spiralling, woozy epic 'This Road.'"
Rather than appear once, "This Road" was split into four distinct movements, each one closing out a chapter of Alan Wake 2's Dark Place:
- "This Road (The Mirror is a Trap)" - Track 4
- "This Road (The Dark Chamber)" - Track 9
- "This Road (Falling Apart)" - Track 24
- "This Road (The Beginning)" - Track 29
It's a structural role usually reserved for a game's original score - not a song an artist had already written years before anyone at Remedy heard it.
An Award-Winning Home
"This Road" now lives inside one of the most decorated games of the decade. Alan Wake 2 has won:
- Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, and Best Art Direction - The Game Awards 2023
- Critics' Choice Award - Golden Joystick Awards 2023
- Statue of Liberty Award (Best World) and the Great White Way Award for Best Acting (Melanie Liburd as Saga Anderson) - New York Game Awards 2024
- Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction - D.I.C.E. Awards 2024
- Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project - Visual Effects Society Awards 2024
- Best Visual Art - Game Developers Choice Awards 2024
- Artistic Achievement and Audio Achievement - BAFTA Games Awards 2024
By The Numbers
Source: Remedy Entertainment investor announcement.
What's Next For Remedy
The world "This Road" lives in keeps expanding. Remedy has shifted to self-publishing its own IP under new CEO Jean-Charles Gaudechon, with Control Resonant (the Control sequel) targeted for 2026 and a Max Payne 1 & 2 remake with Rockstar Games aimed at 2027. An eventual Alan Wake 3 has been mentioned, though likely not before 2029 - Remedy has its hands full first.
None of this confirms Poe's involvement in what comes next - just the road the game she scored is now part of.
The Vinyl Sold Out Too
When Laced Records pressed the official Alan Wake 2 soundtrack to vinyl - including all four parts of "This Road" - it didn't last. Every edition, from the standard double vinyl to the deluxe 4LP boxset, is now sold out.
Now, Poe's own pressing continues the story.
The Third Edition of the "This Road" 12" vinyl single - the song that helped shape one of gaming's most awarded narratives - is available for pre-order now.