While Remedy has received lots of critical acclaim for its recently launched horror-themed third-person game Alan Wake 2, the developer also has a number of future projects in various stages of production. Today, the developer announced it will be rebooting one of those projects, which previously was known by its code name, Project Vanguard.
Remedy first announced this game in 2021 as a collaboration with Tencent, and it was envisioned as a "games-as-a-service" free-to-play title with a co-op multiplayer element. It would also use Epic Games" Unreal Engine rather than the company"s own Northlight engine.
However, today"s press release states that after Project Vanguard reached the end of its proof-of-concept state, Remedy and Tencent decided that the game should switch to a premium game business model, but retain multiplayer co-op features. The game is now back in the proof-of-concept stage, and will now be known by a new code name, "Kestral".
Tero Virtala, the CEO of Remedy Entertainment, is quoted in the press release as saying:
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.
Many of the team members of the now-former Project Vanguard will be moved to other projects at Remedy, with a smaller team now in charge of making the concept for the new Kestral project.
In addition to two paid single-player expansions for Alan Wake 2 that are due in 2024, Remedy is also working on a sequel to their 2019 action game Control, along with a multiplayer-themed game, code named Condor, that"s set in the Control universe. Remedy is also working on full remakes for the first two Max Payne games that will be released as one title by Take Two Interactive.