Remedy Entertainment, the studio behind Max Payne and upcoming Xbox One title Quantum Break, has filed a trademark for Alan Wake's Return, sparking speculation a new game set in the Alan Wake universe may be on the way.

The trademark listing was spotted on the European Union Trademark Database by a NeoGAF user, who also noted that an Alan Wake's Return website was registered in 2015.

Although the listing states Remedy Entertainment is the owner of the trademark submission, it is possible the studio was not involved and it was instead submitted by a third-party. Hoax trademark listings for highly-sought after game sequels regularly appear on databases, most notable among these is the Half-Life 3 submission that was later revealed to be a fake.

Additionally, a trademark registration doesn't necessarily mean a new project is in development.

In September 2014, Remedy's creative director, Sam Lake, said the studio would like to return to Alan Wake some day.

"We're really, really proud of all the games we have made," he said. "And obviously all of them are dear to us. They have a special place in our hearts. You never know about the future and as we have said about Alan Wake, the sequel didn't work out at this point. But definitely we are looking for opportunities to do more, someday, when the time is right."

Speaking earlier in February, Lake also said that designs for an Alan Wake sequel were put together after the first game was released, but were abandoned. Since then, he claims, Remedy has come up with much better ideas for Alan Wake 2.

"We have been iterating the idea of what an Alan Wake sequel could be, and along the way there has been much better ideas than what the concept coming out of Alan Wake was for the sequel. "

Remedy has also previously said it wants to return to Alan Wake when the time is right.

"Among other things, we are discussing the possibility of an Alan Wake sequel with multiple partners, but nothing has been decided," Lake said.

Quantum Break, the studio's next title, will launch on April 5 across Xbox One and PC. The Windows edition will be sold exclusively through the Windows 10 store; it will not be available on Steam.

Those that preorder the digital Xbox One edition gets a free copy of the Windows 10 PC version. The console and PC versions support cross-save between them.