Between Reality and Nightmare: Alan Wake II World Building with Remedy Entertainment
Time
Thu, Feb 27, 2025
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM PT
Location/Platform
Livestream-only (Gnomon YouTube and Twitch)
Recording
Check the video of the event below
Join us on Thursday, February 27th for a livestream-only event with artists from Remedy Entertainment as they break down the world-building of Alan Wake II — from the eerie depths of the Dark Place to the grounded Pacific Northwest setting of Watery.
Lead Environment Artist Anne-Lynn Sottas and Senior Environment Artist Jeremy Cerisy will take us behind the scenes of the game’s unique approach to level design, sharing how they crafted its two distinct realities: the nightmarish, shifting landscapes of Alan’s New York and the moody, atmospheric environments of Saga’s Pacific Northwest.
The talk will explore the full creative pipeline, from early preproduction — including moodboards, screenplays, and art bibles — to final in-game locations like Suomi Hall and the Oceanview Hotel. Anne-Lynn and Jeremy will break down their process for balancing narrative-driven world building with gameplay needs, as well as the challenges of developing Alan Wake II’s signature mechanics, such as Reality Rewriting and the Lightshift system. They’ll also discuss how their approach to environment art evolved from Control’s stark brutalist aesthetic to Alan Wake II’s organic, detail-rich world.
Whether you're a fan of the game or an aspiring environment artist, this is a great opportunity to learn directly from the team that helped shape Alan Wake II. RSVP now to receive a reminder when we go live on the Gnomon YouTube and Twitch channels and to receive exclusive offers from our event sponsor Dell.
Speakers
Anne-Lynn Sottas
Lead Environment Artist
Anne-Lynn grew up in France where she began her journey in the gaming industry. Her career started over a decade ago at Ubisoft Montpellier, where she worked on renowned titles such as Assassin's Creed Unity and Ghost Recon Wildlands.
Later, she decided to embrace new adventures, relocating to Helsinki, with her cat, to join Remedy Entertainment on the production of Crossfire. With all her acquired knowledge she then joined the Control team, building Brutalist environments in the Executive Sector. In 2019, her journey continues on Alan Wake II where she joined the team quite early on, during the prototyping phase to start defining what the game could be and feel like, then ultimately bringing Watery to life.
She is deeply passionate about world-building, bringing environments to life through architecture and thoughtful propping. Games like Dishonored and The Last of Us have profoundly influenced her vision of what games can achieve, inspiring her to craft immersive spaces that tell their unique stories.
When she is not in front of a screen, you’ll likely find her behind a camera, trying to do some sports or enjoying delicious food.
Jeremy Cerisy
Senior Environment Artist
Jeremy is a Senior Environment Artist at Remedy with nearly a decade of experience. He specializes in blending art, design, gameplay, and narrative to create impactful player experiences through award-winning games such as Deathloop and Alan Wake II.
Jeremy began his career as a level artist at Ubisoft Annecy, working on Tom Clancy's The Division 2 and its expansion Warlords of New York. In 2020, he joined Arkane Studios in Lyon, where his work on Deathloop strengthened his expertise as a level artist and deepened his passion for immersive sims. In 2021, he relocated to Finland to join Remedy Entertainment as an Environment Artist, where he helped shape the nightmarish Dark Place dimension in their first horror game, Alan Wake II.
Beyond his professional work, Jeremy mentors aspiring environment artists online, helping them develop their skills and understand the level art pipeline to land their first job.
Sponsored by
Gnomon events are sponsored by Dell.
Dell Precision has over 25 years of innovations, driving the work of power users, designers, and creators. The Precision product team works directly with customers and strategic partners to deliver the most reliable and powerful PCs from Dell. The intelligent performance is driven by AI-based software, Dell Optimizer for Precision, and the professional-level components, such as Intel® Core™ and Xeon® processors, fast memory (including ECC memory options), scalable storage, and professional graphics from NVIDIA that drive many of the creative applications and workflows, as well as exclusive technologies such as Reliable Memory Technology Pro and, patented thermals and the Dell Optimizer.
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