Quantum Break includes a trailer for Alan Wake's Return
But what is it?
Alan Wake's Return, which popped up last week in domain name and trademark listings filed by developer Remedy, is real. Sort of.
Hidden in Quantum Break is a live action trailer, viewable on an in-game TV set. But rather than a new game, it sounds like Alan Wake's Return is a live-action adaptation.
The trailer has yet to surface online, but details posted by Polygon detail the reappearance of Wake, presumably after the events of the original game and spin-off American Nightmare.
Characters note that Wake has been gone for five years. Remedy boss Sam Lake appears as Alex Casey, the fictional protagonist in Wake's own series of novels, who is now real - and who it looks like Wake has just killed. Confused yet?
The trailer ends with the word "Return" on screen, followed by "What lies beneath the surface", perhaps referring to Wake's subconscious or the lake in which he was imprisoned.
Remedy has included TV shows in all of its games - Alan Wake had its own Twin Peaks-style series, Night Springs - but is this something more? It remains to be seen how much Alan Wake will factor in Quantum Break, or if the two will be related.
Microsoft certainly wants you caught up on the Alan Wake series, though - the original game is included with every copy of Quantum Break, while you'll also get American Nightmare if you pre-order.