In 2021, Remedy Entertainment announced that it had partnered with Tencent and started working on free-to-play multiplayer title codenamed Vanguard. Earlier this year, the developer confirmed that the title, still in the proof-of-concept stage of production, required much more work before moving ahead, and now, Remedy has announced that the project is changing gears quite significantly.
Vanguard is being rebooted, and is now being developed as a premium (i.e. paid) title. Now given the name codename Kestrel, Remedy says it will have “a strong, cooperative multiplayer component.” The studio, together with Tencent, decided to change direction “due to uncertainties in creating a successful game to the rapidly changing free-to-play market and associated risks.”
Remedy also confirms that, with the project having been rebooted, it is returning to the concept stage of development. “Core leadership and select members” from the project’s development team will continue to work on it, while the rest will be moved to other projects that are currently in the works at the studio. As Kestrel, the game will now “lean more into Remedy’s core strengths”, while still being “built on many of the features, assets, and themes already designed for Vanguard.”
CEO Tero Virtala said, “We have made some great strides in free-to-play and multiplayer development in Vanguard. After a lot of careful consideration, we believe that taking on a new direction where the game will be built more around Remedy’s core competences is the right way to go. We are creating another distinct Remedy game with Tencent’s continued support in making a great cooperative multiplayer experience.”
Beyond Kestrel, Remedy Entertainment has a number of major projects in the works. The studio is currently working on two expansions for the recently-released Alan Wake 2, and recently confirmed that Max Payne 1 and 2 Remake has moved into the production readiness stage. Multiplayer Control spinoff Condor has also made similar progress, while Control 2 remains in the proof-of-concept stage.