After the release and great success of his bestseller Alan Wake IIthe Remedy studio is far from resting on its laurels.
First of all, the Sam Lake team is working on post-launch content for its latest title, with expansions at the top of the list. But what interests us here is a cooperative multiplayer game project, previously known under the code name Vanguard. Launched in 2021 as an experiment off the beaten track for the studio, it was rebooted, going from a free-to-play title to a so-called “premium” project.
No blank page syndrome at Remedy
To provide a little context around this multiplayer game, remember that the studio signed a publishing partnership with Tencent in 2021. This was part of an entry by the Chinese giant into the capital of Remedy.
In exchange, their mission was to develop a free-to-play multiplayer game known then as Vanguard. Two years later, we learned via a press release from Remedy that the project was relaunched from scratch, with a significant turnaround. This time, the ambition put forward is to make it a premium game, with a new name for the occasion: Kestrel.
By this we must understand a more worked experience, which “ will be more in line with Remedy’s main strengths “. If the studio’s previous games have taught us anything, it’s their impressive talent for telling captivating and complex stories in a unique atmosphere. But if this is true for predominantly single-player games, it remains to be seen whether this will be the case with this cooperative multiplayer project.
A turnaround in the spirit of the times
This decision to move from a free-to-play economic model to a paid title was made by mutual agreement with Tencent in its capacity as publisher. This turnaround also takes place in a climate where games as a service are starting to lose their appeal.
Let us recall for example that, since the departure of Jim Ryan at the head of PlayStation, several behind-the-scenes decisions at the Japanese giant have marked a trend to move away from this economic model. Many games as a service have recently failed, and their profitability is slowly but surely being called into question.
The fact that the free-to-play project Vanguard has made the transition to the paid project Kestrel thus seems to be a safer decision for Remedy. This will allow it to offer an experience that sticks more closely to its DNA. However, starting from scratch must have meant relocating a large part of the team to other as-yet-undisclosed projects, reducing the number of employees working on Kestrel.
As such, we are certainly not close to seeing what a Remedy-style cooperative multiplayer game will be able to give. Let’s hope that we won’t have to wait 13 years like for the masterful sequel toAlan Wake.
Source : Remedy Games
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