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.

Beyond those, Remedy is also working on a new free-to-play co-op multiplayer shooter, currently called Codename Vanguard, and the development has provided a development update for it as well, stating that though the project has started gaining momentum behind-the-scenes due to key hires, there’s “still much work to be done” on it.

“Codename Vanguard, being a free-to-play co-operative game, is a new type of game for Remedy,” CEO Tero Virtala wrote. “The game is in the proof-of-concept stage. New key hires at the end of last year have resulted in better momentum for the project and its leadership team has been strengthened, but there is still much to be done. We have especially focused on the core gameplay, the game’s core loop and meta game designs.”

In December 2021, Remedy announced that it had entered into an agreement with Tencent for the development and distribution of Vanguard, and that it would have a budget of of “a typical Remedy AAA” title. Read more on that through here.

The developer also revealed that, “Together with the Northlight-technology team, the focus has been on developing the required technology and tools that will serve a number of Remedy games in the future.”

As for other projects, the free-to-play co-op title Codename Vanguard, which Tencent is co-publishing, has made “good progress” since the previous quarter. It’s in the proof-of-concept stage  with Remedy continuing to “strengthen the team.” Codename Condor, a spin-off of Control, is also in the proof-of-concept stage.

In terms of upcoming games, Alan Wake 2 is still set to release in 2023 for PC (via the Epic Games Store), PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. No Summer update will be provided but creative lead Sam Lake has assured that development on the sequel is “going really well.” Alan Wake Remastered, which didn’t generate royalty revenue for the studio in Q1 2022, will be coming to the Nintendo Switch this Fall.