Believe it or not, but the original Max Payne came out on this day 20 years ago, July 23, 2001. It was one of the first titles to use the now-famous Bullet Time effect and became one of the most successful IPs of the early 2000s. The team behind the game is none other than Remedy Entertainment, who themselves have built a fairly impressive library of titles over the years that have garnered critical acclaim. For this day, however, the studio looked back on the 20th Anniversary of their first big hit, and what better way to do this than by making a brief, yet very amazing thank you video by the Lead Writer Sam Lake, and the voice of Max Payne himself James McCaffrey.

Happy 20th birthday, Max Payne, from @SamLakeRMD (Max Payne), James McCaffrey (Max Payne), and a familiar leather jacket. 🧥🎂

Happy anniversary to everyone at Remedy, @RockstarGames, @3DRealms, and to all of you who love the game. Let’s celebrate using the hashtag #MaxPayne20! pic.twitter.com/8PYua4D8HI

— Remedy Entertainment (@remedygames) July 23, 2021

The video has both McCaffrey and Lake offering the series a happy 20th Anniversary, with Lake, in particular, thanking the original development team. Both men also take the moment to thank the fans for their unyielding support for the franchise 20 years strong. The video ends with Lake bringing out the infamous jacket that Max Payne wears in the first game and doing the signature pose for the character while McCaffrey narrates another classical line in the background. For those who don’t know, Sam Lake, who was the Lead Writer of the series, was also the in-game model for the character way back in 2001. His face is almost instantly recognizable in every video he’s been in since.

As we already mentioned, Max Payne originally launched on July 23, 2001, for PC, and would also release on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox later that holiday season. The game was a third-person action shooter in a dark and noir-like setting in the heart of New York City that was accompanied by some intense dialogue and graphic novel cutscenes. The game was a massive success and became Remedy Entertainment’s first major title to break through the mainstream. The studio has since released some other amazing titles such as Alan Wake, Quantum Break, and most recently Control, which was nominated for several accolades at The Game Awards 2019.