For a while we thought that AWE, the second expansion for the best third-person shooter Control, would somehow crossover with Remedy's Alan Wake, the cult hit that preceded Control. I was expecting this to be the case, since the title of this expansion is reminiscent of "Alan Wake," and the various lore of "Alan Wake" is scattered throughout "Control."

Remedy made it official in a State of Play online presentation today. First the sound of a typewriter, then an ominous warning: "This was obviously referring to the gameplay of Alan Wake, where you move between telephone poles to avoid being hit by the shadowy 'Taken'. And just for a minute, this guy:

Is Jake Gyllenhaal having a rough weekend, or is it Alan Wake? He looks a little older and burlier than when we last saw him, but I guess that's what life in an unstoppable altered world does to you.

Remedy revealed a bit more about the AWE expansion on the PlayStation blog, explaining that it will center on the investigative division of the Federal Bureau of Control, which was shut down years ago because "things went horribly, horribly wrong. Now, Director of Enforcement Jesse Farden is trying to reclaim the area by hunting down a mysterious entity that has haunted the area for years.

The expansion adds a new form of service weapon, the "surge," which fires a sticky grenade that can be detonated by remote control. In addition, the Hiss Airborne Ranger, a new type of enemy that can fly with a shotgun, and a new Altered Item in the hub of the Investigation Sector will allow players to replay boss fights from previously completed campaigns. The ashtray maze will also be replayable, and a horde mode will be added. Of course, there will also be new rewards, including new costumes.

But perhaps the most interesting part of the blog post is not directly about the controls, but something much bigger.

"Over the years, as anyone who has played Control will know, we have included Easter eggs in the game that relate Remedy games to each other: ...... But what if they were not all just Easter eggs? Remedy writes, "What if they were not all just Easter eggs? There has actually been a plan for how some of our games are connected for over a decade, something we call the Remedy Connected Universe, and the payoff for certain things is ...... What if there is something beyond this?"

I don't know about you, but I'm certainly intrigued.

Update: Remedy confirmed on Twitter that AWE will go live on all platforms (not just PlayStation 4) on August 27.