In the first game, the character was portrayed by Lake, with Timothy Gibbs and James McCaffrey later taking over the role, and consistently voiced by McCaffrey. The game's publisher, 3D Realms, intended Max to serve as the 'foundation of a new gaming franchise'. Max was introduced in the 2001 third-person shooter Max Payne, which was written by Sam Lake and developed by Remedy Entertainment. Max Payne is a fictional character and the playable protagonist of the neo-noir video game series of the same name. New York City Police Department (formerly) Max Payne in a promotional image for Max Payne 3
