He was introduced to video games through a long-time friend Petri Järvilehto, one of the early members of Remedy Entertainment.

Lake became the face model for the title character and he even got his mother to portray Nicole Horne, the game's main antagonist, whereas his father played Alfred Woden.

[citation needed] In the Max Payne movie which was released in 2008, Sam Lake also provided some writing help, though mostly for the character background.

[citation needed] Lake was the lead writer for the 2010 "psychological action thriller" Alan Wake,[9] which went on to receive numerous awards and a positive critical reception for its characters and story.

The first game also features references to Lake’s earlier work with Max Payne when the player is allowed to read a few pages from the protagonist's novel The Sudden Stop.