The long-awaited remakes of 2001’s Max Payne and 2003’s Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne have “entered the full production stage,” according to a financial report from series creator Remedy Entertainment.
There’s little other detail about the games or when to expect them, though rumors have suggested they could arrive in 2026. Remedy and Rockstar Games announced a partnership in 2022 to develop and publish the remakes. They will launch on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.
Max Payne is considered a landmark work of turn-of-the-century video gaming, whether console or PC, both for its neo-noir atmosphere and hard-as-nails story, and for introducing slowed-down “bullet-time” action to its gunplay. The mechanism was inspired by The Matrix film series and has been copied by many other action-adventures since.
A (very) brief history of Max Payne
Remedy developed and Rockstar, which owns the IP, published the first two games. A third, Max Payne 3, was developed and published by Rockstar in 2012.
The series follows its titular protagonist, who is cast in the typical cop-on-the-edge mold, as he searches for those responsible for his wife and child’s murder but winds up uncovering an even larger conspiracy involving organized crime, big pharma, and the government.
The first two games pulled home a sled full of awards, including multiple publications’ game of the year and readers’ choice honors. The first Max Payne was the basis for a 2008 film adaptation that didn’t do so hot, however; leading man Mark Wahlberg was nominated for a Golden Raspberry for “Worst Actor” in that role.
