News Remedy/Tencent's multiplayer title "Project Vanguard" has been retooled, will no longer be free to play. (update: cancelled)

[Krvavi Abadas]

Remedy Entertainment Plc today announces a reboot of its cooperative, free-to-play multiplayer game project codenamed “Vanguard”, hereafter “Kestrel”, as a premium game with a strong, cooperative multiplayer component.

Remedy signed a global agreement with Tencent as its publishing partner on December 28, 2021, to develop Vanguard. Due to uncertainties in creating a successful game to the rapidly changing free-to-play market and associated risks, the parties have discussed a new direction for the game project, which will be given the new codename, “Kestrel.”

The reboot comes as the project has reached the end of its proof-of-concept phase and after Remedy and Tencent had time to evaluate the project’s status and its next steps.

The project will return to a concept phase. Part of the former Vanguard development team will move to work on Remedy’s other ongoing projects, while the core leadership and select members of the development team of Kestrel will focus on the project’s new direction from the concept stage onwards to create a premium game with a strong cooperative multiplayer component. The new experience will lean more into Remedy’s core strengths and be built on many of the features, assets and themes already designed for Vanguard.

(press release)

the wording leads me to believe it'll now have proper single-player support like Remedy's other titles, i'm pretty sure the other MP project they're working on (a Control spin-off/possible prequel where you play as a team of FBC agents.) is setup the same way.

i'd imagine one of the major factors in why this is getting retooled is because Remedy's (single-player) work on Crossfire X ended up vanishing off the face of the earth after the servers went down. so having another title from them die out over being partially F2P would be a bad move.

 

[grobla123]

Hope this doesn't end up like say Suicide Squad and they pull off that transition a bit better.

 

[Krvavi Abadas]

Remedy Entertainment Plc (“Remedy”) and Tencent Plc (“Tencent”) have decided to cancel the game project codename Kestrel. Codename Kestrel had a small team working on the early concept stage of a premium cooperative multiplayer game. The game was being developed by Remedy, co-financed with Tencent, and to be co-published with Tencent. The project started in November 2023 as a reboot from an earlier project codenamed Vanguard.

The decision to cancel codename Kestrel allows Remedy to focus more on the other games in its portfolio. Other ongoing game development projects will get experienced developers reassigned from Kestrel. In addition, the planned investment needs for Kestrel are removed and Remedy’s overall recruitment needs are reduced.

unfortunate, but at least they still have an excellent selection of other games in the works.