Alan Wake 2 update 12 patch notes address performance-related bugs on PC

Upon the launch of Alan Wake 2, the 2010 entry’s sequel was quickly praised by critics and casual players alike for its series-defining narrative and exceedingly intense gameplay. But despite the plaudits and the accolades, many also criticized the game’s PC version for its plethora of performance issues. Luckily, Remedy Entertainment has quickly addressed these gripes with the latest patch, so you can experience the spooky continuation of the embattled writer’s story with even fewer hitches.

Of course, a smoother experience means you’ll also have a much easier time finding all of the Alan Wake 2 lunchbox locations and Alan Wake 2 Cult Stash locations. If you want to know precisely what the developers have improved, though, their recently released patch notes state that they “fixed performance and visual issues with Nvidia DLSS Frame Generation enabled when changing from real-time video to 3D rendering.”

Remedy also improved performance in specific scenarios on the game’s PS5 version as part of this update, which you’ll be able to read about along with the rest of the Alan Wake 2 patch notes below.

Alan Wake 2 update 12 patch notes

Global 

• Made the player able to push certain movable objects that might block the progress when revisiting combat areas (just walk into them…). 
• Fixed an issue where loading a save game during an enemy grapple would leave the player without movement controls. 
• Fixed an issue related to the Nursery Rhyme doll “Father” disappearing if placed in the wrong location and the player saved their game. 
• Fixed a rare issue where the player could not watch the Drowned video and thus was prevented from getting an Achievement / Trophy.
• Fixed an issue where auto-aim was not…auto-aiming correctly when Flashlight boosting a submerged Binder enemy. 
• Fixed an issue where Saga couldn’t shoot or damage an enemy hiding in the bushes after throwing a flare at the enemy. 
• Fixed an issue where interrupting a charged shot by quickly selecting another weapon and then re-selecting the crossbow would launch the bolt without player input. 
• Fixed an issue where an Echo wouldn’t reset after the player leaves the area. 
• Fixed an issue where the Dark Veil effect would be missing from Cynthia’s boss fight after reloading a checkpoint. 
• Fixed an issue where the Wake insight at the Caldera Street station didn’t trigger. 
• Fixed an issue where entering the Writer’s Room during an elevator ride played a real number on preserving the correct game state. 
• Fixed premature notifications of Koskela brother’s commercials being available in the Mind Place (Good things come to those who wait.) 
• Fixed Alan climbing next to the ladder when interacting with the ladder while opening a door. 
• Fixed conversation interactions outside the Nursing Home not being consistently visible. 
• After the Summoning boss fight, only Saga can pick up crossbow bolts (sorry, Alan) 
• Improved the zoom function in Dioramas (such as Cultist stashes and Nursery Rhymes) and the Map.
• Optimized memory use to keep more cold, dead enemy bodies lying on the ground for added realism and spookiness. 
• It is now possible to skip the Alice documentary. 
• Corrected spelling errors.
• (PC) Made the GPU crash dialog more user-friendly with understandable error messages for non-Remedy engineers and QA. 
• (PC) Fixed switching from full screen to window occasionally resulting in wrong rendering resolution.

Performance 

• (PC) Fixed performance and visual issues with Nvidia DLSS Frame Generation enabled when changing from real-time video to 3D rendering. 
• (PlayStation 5 Performance Mode) Optimized performance when aggressively walking stairs up and down in the Nursing Home.
• (PlayStation 5 Performance Mode) Optimized streaming performance globally but predominantly around the hallways outside of room 666 in the Oceanview Hotel.

Animations and visuals 

• Numerous lighting and visual fixes and related improvements.
• Fixed Alan’s flashlight holstering animations when the writer is in a wounded state. 
• Fixed Alan’s flashlight holstering animation triggering even without having a flashlight. 
• Fixed weapon-switching animations to work correctly when Alan is healing.  
• Fixed an issue where forward running dodge animation was playing for too long. 
• Fixed an issue where interrupting the manuscript pick-up animation by combat can lead Saga to stay in a broken animation state. 

Audio 

• Added missing localized VO audio for French and Japanese languages. 
• Fixed an issue where in-world videos (including Koskela ads, Wake insight’s, Alice videos, Darling videos, and Yoton Yo video) audio was sometimes out of sync. 
• General audio fixes and improvements.

UI 

• Fixed an issue where players could not select the inventory items on the far-right side of their inventory. 
• Prevent the Shoebox from eating away players’ items when they were stacked erroneously. 
• Hacked OCD UI indicators in the Mind Place not clearing their “new” status. 
• Added “Restore to Default” option to the Control Key Customization Tab.
• Improved the brightness calibration UI.
• General UI fixes and improvements.

Case Board 

• Fixed an issue where Saga could only access the Case Board after Profiling but not via other Mind Place interactions.
• Improved automatically placing clues for already solved questions to the Case Board. 
• Fixed a wayward Bright Falls station photo being in the distinctly wrong location on the Case Board.

Mission Specific 

INVITATION 

• Hid interactions while dialogue plays around the Nightingale murder site. 
• Fixed a case where Saga is unable to pick up the pistol in the morgue corridor after waiting for a far longer time than we expected. 
• Fixed Nightingale’s profiling with “The heart! Where is it?” not skipping the entire sequence.
• Reduced chances of Nightingale ruining your day. Made the resourcing more generous for the Nightingale boss fight.

OLD GODS

• Fixed an issue where clearing the Mulligan and Thornton encounter didn’t trigger the end cinematic, thus blocking progress.

SCRATCH 

• Fixed an issue where Saga could not communicate the plan to agent Estevez. If you are not in the Bright Falls area, you must come back to trigger progress with the plan. 
• Fixed a case where players could miss a phone call from Tor, preventing getting a missing piece of evidence and thus blocking progress in the mission. 
• Fixed an issue where the conversation with Estevez would drone on after leaving the Sheriff’s Station.

SUMMONING

• Made Alex Casey’s loot drops spicier by having him biased toward two-handed weapon ammo for Saga (“partners to the end”). 
• Fixed a rare issue where a light array would disappear during the Scratch fight upon the player releasing the interaction button.
• Added more ammo for the mission’s Alan Wake section, making the trek to the parking lot somewhat more bearable.

WE SING

• Fixed an issue with the Plot Board.

As always, you can check out the entirety of these Alan Wake 2 patch notes through Remedy Entertainment’s official blog post. If you need help navigating the game’s spooky setting, take a look at our pages on the Alan Wake 2 Lighthouse key location, the Alan Wake 2 Sheriff’s Station shotgun code solution, and the Alan Wake 2 Witchfinder’s Station computer password.