Remedy's Creative Director Sam Lake Shared How Max Payne Cover Art Was Created

Sam Lake, Remedy's creative director, familiar to any gamer, if not because of his works then thanks to his face, is also the brain behind the iconic Max Payne cover art, it turns out.

Responding to a fan wondering about the direction of the cover, he shared that he was "messing around in Photoshop, turning a photo from graphic novel shoots to a binary black and white image." That was the inspiration behind the final shot you can see on the game's box.

Speaking of shoots, Lake also recalled how he got a bruise in the corner of his eye after "squinting so hard and for so long" to create the famous Max Payne face when taking photos for the character's textures. Ah, no art without suffering.

Fans appreciated this little piece of fun information about the cover. "Once again, proof that just sort of being goofy and messing around can create all sorts of cool things!" commented one X/Twitter user.

Maybe the Max Payne 1 & 2 remake and Control 2 will also unveil some funny details about their development. For now, the remake has transitioned into full production, so we're looking forward to what it will show us.

Join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Reddit, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.