As is often the case with high profile franchises of any description, there’s always bound to be hype and speculation around the next instalment of that franchise, and Alan Wake is no different.

Adding fuel to the smoky rumour fire, the term ‘Alan Wake 2’ appeared on an artist’s CV recently, which many thought confirmed that a sequel to 2010’s action thriller was in the works.

Not so, says Alan Wake developer Remedy Entertainment. Or, not quite so. Or rather… it’s complicated. Let Remedy’s Oskari Hakkinen try to clear things up:

“Fans of the franchise will be excited to learn that yes, more Wake is coming,” Hakkinen enthused to Eurogamer. “But to be absolutely certain to avoid confusion, this next Wake instalment will not be Alan Wake 2. And neither will it be [downloadable content].”

An official announcement is planned, where Remedy will be able to “show [us]” the secret project containing ‘more Wake.’

“[The project is] something that’ll definitely give more to the Wake fans out there,” Hakkinen added, “but just as importantly, this instalment will also give an opportunity for players who aren’t familiar with the franchise to finally jump on board.

“We can’t wait to show you more, bear with us. Release dates, platforms and pricing are unconfirmed as of yet, but Fall 2011 is probably a good guess.”

It’s probably also a good guess that we’ll be seeing this title at E3 at the beginning of June this year, while further speculation points to a Kinect-enabled adventure in the Alan Wake universe.

It’s also curious that Hakkinen referred to the project as ‘Wake’ rather than ‘Alan Wake.’ Was this a concious effort, or just shorthand for the game a “slice” of his studio has been working on for the last few months?

Exited? I am, for no other reason than getting more excellent Alan Wake-like experiences - the original game is outstanding!