1 week Ago By Leah J. Williams
The original version of for PC will be getting a new update to remove David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ from its end credits sequence. Unlike its successor, this game had a notable devotion to licensed music, with a range of popular hits ending its main chapter sequences. This caused a whole lot of trouble in its life cycle, with complicated licensing issues actually forcing Remedy Entertainment to briefly delist the game in 2017.
It was unavailable for several months, although it returned in 2018, after a range of negotiations. Rather than having fall to this same fate again, it appears Remedy has a new game plan. As announced, ‘Space Oddity’ is going away, but it will be replaced by an original song from composer Petri Alanko ( ), titled ‘Strange Moons’.
As described, this song is inspired by ‘Space Oddity’ but will provide a different flavour for . “[It’s] written from a point of view of an astronaut who does have quite a few problems. But even is okay, as it is what it is,” .
He also confirmed the new song was pieced together from a music track that originally featured in a cut level of . While the removal of ‘Space Oddity’ is disappointing – thematically, it shares neat ties with and it gave the credits a sense of cosmic grandeur – replacing it with an original composition is a much better option than total delisting. In future, it’s likely Remedy Entertainment will have to continue replacing the game’s licensed songs – at least, for as long as it wants the original to remain live on digital storefronts.
It may also face the same challenges with , eventually. While it does appear the licensing rights for these titles have different timelines and agreements – given ‘Space Oddity’ will remain in , for now – we’ll likely hear much more about the game’s licensed music in future. Keen players can enjoy hearing ‘Space Oddity’ until , at which point a new update will introduce Petri Alanko’s song replacement.
It’s a small price to pay to preserve the original version of , which remains one of Remedy’s best and most innovative adventures..
