Updated September 24, 2026:Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake is still in development at Remedy Entertainment and its official status remains “full production”. The Finnish studio is remaking Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne as a single project, funded and published by Rockstar Games. The remake has been announced for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S using the Northlight engine. However, Remedy has still announced no release year and has yet to publish any gameplay or a proper trailer for the remake.
Quick answer: the project has not been cancelled and is no longer at the concept stage. Remedy moved it into full production in 2024, and its August 11, 2026 financial report still lists it in that phase. The first two games will be combined into one modern title, but the exact structure, the new bullet time system, the cast, the final visuals and the release date have yet to be revealed.
Remedy is developing the remakes of Max Payne and Max Payne 2 as a single project with Rockstar Games. Image: Remedy Entertainment.
Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake at a glance
The officially confirmed information about the Max Payne 1 and 2 remake.
Question
Verified answer
Developer
Remedy Entertainment
Publisher
Rockstar Games
Games included
Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
Format
Both remakes are being developed as a single title
Genre
Third-person shooter
Platforms
PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S
Engine
Northlight, Remedy's proprietary technology
Current status
Full production
Release date
No year has been officially announced
Official remake gameplay
Not yet released as of September 24, 2026
Is Max Payne 3 included?
Not announced: the official project only covers Max Payne 1 and 2
Where is Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake in development?
The most precise answer comes from Remedy's financial documents. The remake is no longer in a research or prototype phase: it is in full production.
In its half-year report published on August 11, 2026, Remedy lists Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake in the Full production category alongside its other major projects in development. The document also states that development revenue related to the remake was still recognized during the first half of 2026, confirming that work is actively continuing under the agreement with Rockstar.
This status does not, however, allow a release date to be inferred. In the games industry, full production can last a long time, particularly for an AAA project that has to rebuild two older games with modern technology.
The official development timeline
Official progress of the project since its announcement.
Period
Stage announced by Remedy
April 2022
Project announced; concept phase
Early 2023
Moved into proof-of-concept
Late 2023
Production readiness; style and scope more clearly defined
June 2024
Entered full production
August 2026
Still in full production
This steady progression is more informative than a speculative date: Remedy has passed the project's main internal milestones and continues to list it among the games it is currently developing.
Max Payne 1 and Max Payne 2 will be combined into a single title
This is one of the few structural details announced as early as 2022: Remedy is remaking the first two Max Payne games as a single title.
That wording should be taken literally. It confirms that the commercial release will bundle both remakes, but it does not yet reveal how they will be organized.
Remedy has not said whether players will select two campaigns from a menu, whether the stories will be presented one after the other in a single progression, or whether additional transitions will connect the events of 2001 and 2003. Any more specific claim would currently be speculative.
Max Payne 3, developed primarily by Rockstar and released in 2012, is not part of the announced scope. The official project covers only Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.
Original Max Payne vs remake: what is confirmed and what is not
What the original games allow us to compare with the known information about the remake.
Element
Original games
Remake
Status
Stories covered
Max Payne 1 and Max Payne 2
Both games are being remade
Confirmed
Engine
2001/2003-era technologies
Northlight
Confirmed
Platforms
PC and older consoles
PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
Confirmed
Bullet time
Core mechanic in both games
Details of the modern system have not been shown
To be clarified
Graphic-novel storytelling
Iconic element
Remake treatment not detailed
To be clarified
Neo-noir New York
Central setting
Remedy wants to bring back the world, story and atmosphere
Official intent, visual details unknown
Max's face
Sam Lake in the first game, a different model in the second
Not revealed
Unknown
Max's voice
James McCaffrey
Cast not announced
Unknown
Level structure
Linear, chapter-based progression
Not detailed
Unknown
Bullet time: the mechanic the remake cannot treat as a minor detail
It is difficult to talk about Max Payne without talking about bullet time. Remedy and Rockstar themselves cite the system among the defining features of the two original games.
In Max Payne, slowing down time was not only about creating spectacular scenes. The system changed how combat was read: bullet trajectories, sideways dives, enemy positioning and risk-taking became easier to analyze for a few seconds.
The first Max Payne made bullet time one of the signatures of its gameplay. This image comes from the original game, not the remake. Credit: Remedy Entertainment.
The remake will necessarily have to account for that legacy, but Remedy has not yet shown how bullet time works in the new version. We therefore do not know whether it will keep exactly the same resource system, whether it will evolve between the two campaigns, or whether the studio will add new combat tools.
The right approach at this stage is therefore to separate two things: bullet time is unquestionably part of Max Payne's historic identity, but its modern form has yet to be revealed.
Northlight: Remedy's modern engine is officially confirmed
The remake will use Northlight, Remedy's proprietary engine. This was confirmed from the moment the development agreement with Rockstar Games was signed.
Northlight is also the technology behind several of the studio's modern productions. Remedy describes it as a set of technologies and tools covering rendering, animation, characters, gameplay and production workflows, among other areas.
This makes it possible to say that Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake is not simply running on an upgraded version of the original engine. However, it would be incorrect to promise that the remake will look exactly like Alan Wake 2 or Control. The same engine can produce very different art directions, lighting systems and performance profiles depending on the project.
To place this technology in the context of Remedy's recent work, our look at Alan Wake 2 also shows the importance of atmosphere and storytelling in the studio's modern productions.
Official video: Remedy explains the Northlight engine
This video does not show the Max Payne remake. It is useful for understanding the technology Remedy has officially chosen for the project.
Official Remedy Entertainment video about the Northlight engine. It does not contain gameplay from Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake.
Rockstar funds and publishes the remake, Remedy develops it
The division of roles is clear. Remedy Entertainment is developing the game, while Rockstar Games is funding its development and publishing it.
The agreement announced in 2022 states that the development budget funded by Rockstar is in the range of a typical Remedy AAA production. The Finnish studio receives development payments and may later receive royalties once Rockstar has recouped certain costs set out in the agreement.
The Max Payne IP no longer belongs to Remedy: the studio's investor pages classify the project as a partner franchise and list Rockstar Games as publisher.
This partnership is nevertheless unusual because Remedy is the historic creator of the series. The studio developed the two games specifically covered by this remake before Rockstar took direct charge of Max Payne 3.
On Rockstar's side, the editorial context is of course still dominated by GTA 6 and its official information, but the return of Max Payne shows another side of its catalog.
Max Payne 2001: what the remake has to rebuild
Released in 2001, the first Max Payne follows an undercover police officer whose life collapses after the murder of his family. Later framed for another murder and hunted by both the police and the mob, Max crosses an icy New York night in search of answers.
The game built its identity around three elements that reinforced one another:
a third-person shooter centered on bullet time;
a highly stylized neo-noir crime-thriller atmosphere;
storytelling that used graphic-novel panels between playable sequences.
The remake therefore has to modernize a game that was not defined by its graphics alone. Its pacing, monologues, the way New York was portrayed and the transition between storytelling and action mattered just as much as the technology.
Max Payne 2: the remake also needs to preserve a different identity
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne arrived in 2003. Max is back with the New York City Police Department when an investigation leads him to Mona Sax, whom he believed to be dead. Remedy itself describes the game as a dark, violent and tragic love story.
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne deepened the gunplay and neo-noir storytelling. Screenshot from the original game, not the remake. Credit: Remedy Entertainment.
The second game therefore should not be treated as a simple technical extension of the first. Its tone, the relationship between Max and Mona, its environments and its narrative pacing all have their own identity.
The challenge of the single-project format will be precisely to bring the two works together without erasing what makes them different. For now, Remedy has not said how it intends to harmonize their interfaces, combat systems or narrative presentation.
Will the graphic-novel storytelling return?
This is one of the most important questions and, for now, there is still no official answer.
The first two games used still images presented like comic-book panels to tell a large part of their stories. That choice became inseparable from their style. It also allowed Remedy to create highly distinctive storytelling despite the technical limitations of the time.
Northlight would now make it possible to produce long, fully animated cinematics, but that does not mean Remedy will automatically abandon the comic-book presentation. The studio has not shown either approach yet.
Key point: the return of the two games' stories is confirmed; the exact form of their storytelling is not.
What will Max Payne look like in the remake?
Max's face has changed over the course of the series. In the first game, the character's appearance was notably based on Sam Lake, writer and long-time creative figure at Remedy. Max Payne 2 used a different model.
The remake will necessarily have to choose a direction for the character, but Remedy has not yet published the new model. It is therefore impossible to say whether Max will once again use Sam Lake's face, the second game's likeness, or a new appearance.
The same caution applies to the voice. James McCaffrey, the iconic voice of Max Payne in the games, died in 2023. Remedy paid tribute to him that year, recalling his importance to the studio and its community. No full voice cast for the remake has been announced so far.
Official video: Sam Lake and James McCaffrey celebrate Max Payne
Remedy brought Sam Lake and James McCaffrey together in 2021 for the twentieth anniversary of the first game. This official video is a useful reminder of how the character's face, voice and writing helped shape Max Payne. It is not a trailer for the remake.Official video published by Remedy Entertainment in 2021 for the twentieth anniversary of Max Payne.
Is there already a trailer or gameplay for Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake?
No, not as of September 24, 2026.
Remedy does have an official page dedicated to the project, but its “Videos” section still contains nothing and its “Screenshots” section does not display any gallery of images from the remake.
This matters because many videos circulating on YouTube use footage from the original games, mods, fan edits or content from other Remedy titles. They should not be presented as an official demonstration.
For Game.fr, the rule is simple: until Remedy or Rockstar directly publishes footage from the project, no sequence should be captioned “remake gameplay”.
When will Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake be released?
No official release date or release year has been announced as of September 24, 2026.
Remedy's own page for the game leaves the “Release Year” field blank. The company's investor page also lists “n/a” for the project's release year.
The “full production” status confirms that development is more advanced than it was when the project was announced in 2022, but it does not turn an estimate into official information.
Headlines such as the following should therefore be avoided:
“Max Payne Remake will be released in 2027”;
“release planned for 2028”;
“the trailer is coming soon”.
Until Remedy or Rockstar directly announces a release window, those statements remain speculative.
Why the lack of a date is not worrying in itself
The project has passed through several production stages that have been publicly documented. It moved from concept to proof-of-concept, then to production readiness and finally to full production. Remedy also continues to record development revenue related to the project.
In other words, the lack of a date does not mean the game has disappeared from the internal schedule. It simply means that Rockstar and Remedy have not yet entered the detailed public communication phase.
Game.fr will update this page as soon as either partner publishes a release window, a video or images actually taken from the remake.
Game.fr illustration inspired by the neo-noir atmosphere associated with Max Payne. Mood illustration, not an official screenshot from the remake.
The five elements that will determine the remake's faithfulness
This section is Game.fr analysis, not information announced by Remedy.
1. Bullet time
It needs to remain powerful and spectacular enough to evoke the originals while still working with the standards of a modern third-person shooter.
2. The neo-noir atmosphere
A technically impressive remake without the loneliness, snow, shadows and inward-looking crime-noir tone of the first two games would lose an essential part of their identity.
3. Graphic novels and the inner voice
The way Remedy modernizes the storytelling will be just as important as its rendering choices.
4. The gunplay
Physics, animations, impacts and movement will need to be modernized without turning Max Payne into a simple clone of a contemporary third-person shooter.
5. Continuity between the two games
Combining two remakes into a single product creates a rare opportunity: to make the evolution between the two stories feel coherent while preserving their differences.
What we are still waiting to see in the first real presentation
The first official gameplay from the remake.
How the new bullet time works.
The new Max Payne character model.
The voice cast and how Max's voice will be handled.
Whether the graphic novels return.
How extensively the New York environments are rebuilt.
How the two campaigns will be combined into a single title.
Physics, destruction and environmental interactions.
PC system requirements.
Performance on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Editions and pricing.
The official release window.
Do you need to have played the old Max Payne games before the remake?
There is no indication that this will be necessary. The very purpose of a remake is to rebuild both stories for modern platforms and a new generation of players.
Playing the originals may nevertheless be particularly worthwhile: it will make it possible to measure precisely how the pacing, direction, bullet time, level design and storytelling have changed once Remedy finally shows its new version.
For now, Remedy's official pages remain the best references for revisiting screenshots and descriptions of the 2001 and 2003 games.
Game.fr illustration built around the Max Payne icon. Remedy has not yet revealed the remake's new official character model.
Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake FAQ
Is Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake still in development?
Yes. Remedy's financial report published on August 11, 2026 still lists the project in full production.
When will Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake be released?
No official release date or year has been announced. Remedy's project page still does not list a launch year as of September 24, 2026.
Who is developing Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake?
Remedy Entertainment, creator of the two original games, is developing the remake under an agreement with Rockstar Games.
Is Rockstar Games developing the remake?
Remedy is the developer. Rockstar Games funds and publishes the project under the official agreement announced in 2022.
Will Max Payne 1 and Max Payne 2 be in the same game?
Yes. Remedy confirms that both games are being developed as a single title. The exact way the two campaigns will be organized has not yet been revealed.
Is Max Payne 3 included?
Not announced. The official project only covers Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.
Which platforms will the remake be released on?
The confirmed platforms are PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Is a PS4 or Xbox One version planned?
No PS4 or Xbox One version has been announced. Remedy only lists PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Which engine does Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake use?
The game uses Northlight, Remedy Entertainment's proprietary engine.
Is there already gameplay from the remake?
No. Remedy has not released any official gameplay footage from the remake as of September 24, 2026.
Is there an official trailer for the remake?
No proper trailer containing footage from the remake is available on Remedy's official page. Videos circulating online should therefore be checked before being presented as official.
Will bullet time be included?
Bullet time is an iconic mechanic from the original games and Remedy cites it among the series' historic features. However, the studio has not yet detailed the form the system will take in the remake.
Will James McCaffrey voice Max in the remake?
James McCaffrey, the historic voice of Max Payne, died in 2023. Remedy has not yet announced the remake's full voice cast.
Will Sam Lake be the face of Max Payne?
That has not been confirmed. Sam Lake provided Max's likeness in the first game, but Remedy has not yet revealed any final character model for the remake.
Key takeaways
Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake is a real project and is still actively being developed. The solid facts are now easy to summarize: Remedy is developing it, Rockstar is funding and publishing it, the first two games are being combined into a single title, Northlight is being used, and PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions are confirmed.
Everything else needs to be treated with greater caution. As of September 24, 2026, no release year, gameplay or genuine gallery of remake screenshots has been published. Max's face, the cast, the structure of the two campaigns, the new bullet time system and the treatment of the graphic novels also remain unknown.
That is precisely what makes the next presentation important: after several years of documented internal progress, the project now needs to show how Remedy intends to rebuild two of its most iconic works using today's tools.
Also read: our feature on CONTROL Resonant and the evolution of Remedy's action games, useful for understanding the studio's recent work and its Northlight technology.
Game.fr methodology: status, platform, engine, funding and release-year information was checked against Remedy's pages and investor documents. Unannounced elements are explicitly presented as unknown or as editorial analysis. The screenshots included are from the original games and were published by Remedy; they are never presented as remake images. Last verified: September 24, 2026.
