Remedy Entertainment has announced that it will be rebooting project Vanguard to a premium game "with a strong cooperative multiplayer component", confirming it will no longer be free-to-play.
The studio behind Alan Wake 2 and Control signed a publishing deal with Tencent in December 2021 to develop the game - which is now codenamed Kestrel - but due to "uncertainties in creating a successful game to the rapidly changing free-to-play market and associated risks" Remedy and Tencent have discussed a new direction for the project, according to a new update.
The reboot announcement comes after the project has reached the end of its proof-of-concept phase and after both parties have had time to evaluate the project’s status and its next steps.
Kestrel will now return to a concept phase and part of the former Vanguard development team will shift their focus to other ongoing Remedy projects.
Meanwhile, the core leadership, along with select team members, will work on Kestrel's new direction to create a new vision with the cooperative multiplayer component, with the overall experience leaning "more into Remedy’s core strengths and be built on many of the features, assets and themes already designed for Vanguard."
"We have made some great strides in free-to-play and multiplayer development in Vanguard," said Tero Virtala, the CEO of Remedy Entertainment. "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."
Project Kestrel is one of four games currently in development at Remedy, alongside Control 2, Condor, and remakes of Max Payne 1 and Max Payne 2. While we currently don't have too many details about the Control sequel, we do know that Condor is a spin-off of the title and will be a four-player co-operative game to be co-published with 505 Games.
For more, be sure to check out our best Black Friday gaming deals, as well as our Black Friday video game deals for some great discounts and early offers.
