Remedy has a message to those who intend to pirate the PC version of Alan Wake: enjoy the story!

Alan Wake launches on Steam tomorrow nearly two years after it launched on Xbox 360. It goes live on other digital platforms, such as Origin, in a couple of weeks. A retail boxed version launches on 2nd March courtesy of Nordic Games.

With Alan Wake hitting the PC both digitally and at retail, and it being a single-player only game, Remedy is bracing itself for a tidal wave of illegal downloads. But it's not too bothered.

"Of course we care about it," head of franchise development Oskari Hakkinen told Eurogamer.

"We spent five years creating this game and went through a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Hopefully people see it's a cult classic. We're a small team of 60 people.

"But some people are going to pay for it and some people aren't. At the end of the day for us it's about entertaining as many people as possible."

Hakkinen hopes Alan Wake PC pirates will have so much fun with the game that they'll fork out their hard-earned cash for future Alan Wake titles, thus benefiting Remedy in the long run.

"Of course we hope people will pay for it, but if they don't, at least enjoy the story," he said. "Maybe they'll get something else in the Alan Wake universe somewhere down the line."

Hakkinen compared pirates eventually buying into a product they've stole to the freemium model used by so many mobile games.

"You get to pay Tiny Tower for the first 40 minutes and then it asks you, well, you can carry on grinding and building your burgers and selling fries by sending people up and down the lift, or you can pay.

"So they give you something for free and if you enjoy it after your 40 minutes maybe then you start investing in the game. If you want to play a little bit more maybe you just put in a pound and you can play some more.

"It's not the same, but maybe there's something in Alan Wake they enjoy and they didn't realise they were going to enjoy it. They grabbed it because they've just heard, it's okay, but not something they've sought after. They enjoy it and then they grab something else we make."

Ultimately, though, Hakkinen and Remedy employ a laissez-faire attitude to PC game piracy.

"You can't fight it, really," he said. "It's just the way it is. Of course I hope people go on Steam or get the retail copy. But if they don't, they don't. I'm not going to get a stomach ulcer from it. It's just the way it is."