Remedy Cancels New Multiplayer Project Kestrel

Remedy Entertainment calls it quits on Project Kestrel.

By Tanner Dedmon

Remedy Entertainment, the creators of the Alan Wake games including Control, is no longer moving forward with its multiplayer game known only by its codename, Kestrel. This decision marks the end of the development of game that once had a completely different project name and release plan when it was formerly known as Vanguard. Remedy said that the game was still in its concept stage, and now that work on it has finished, those who were working on Kestrel will be reassigned to some of Remedy's other games that it's working on.

Remedy has talked about Kestrel sporadically during its various updates providing transparency on its in-development projects. Back in November, Remedy said that it'd be rebooting Vanguard as Kestrel instead. Vanguard was to be a free-to-play multiplayer game which was already quite the departure from the games Remedy is typically known for, but it became more in line with Remedy's portfolio when the November update confirmed that it would be a premium game instead with a "strong, cooperative multiplayer component." Tencent has been on board to co-publish the game ever 2021 when the Vanguard agreement was reached.

Fast-forward to today and we have Remedy announcing now that it's not moving forward with Kestrel. Now, other projects "will get experienced developers reassigned from Kestrel."

"Codename Kestrel showed early promise, but the project was still in its early concept stage," said Remedy's CEO Tero Virtala." Our other projects have advanced well and are moving to the next stages of development, and increasing focus on them provides us with benefits. We can reallocate talented Kestrel developers to these other game projects, and many of our support functions get additional focus on their operations. This is yet another means to ensure that our game projects continue advancing well. I want to thank our Kestrel development team. Though we decided to discontinue the project for wider Remedy benefits, our team has done good work and provided us with valuable learnings. I also want to thank Tencent for their partnership so far. They have been very professional and supportive."

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With Kestrel now finished, the other projects Remedy has in the works include a Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake, Control 2, and another game codenamed Condor. The first of those are pretty self-explanatory with the Max Payne games getting remade and Control 2 a sequel to the Alan Wake universe game Control, but Condor is one game that's not quite as transparent. We know that it's also a multiplayer project and is a spin-off from Control. It'll be a four-player PvE game from Remedy and 505 Games, and it's in the works for the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S platforms.

"Remedy Entertainment, developer of the award-winning game Control, has signed an agreement with 505 Games under which Remedy and 505 Games, an international video game publisher and a subsidiary of Digital Bros Group, will co-publish and develop a new 4-player cooperative PvE (player vs. environment) game, codenamed Condor," Remedy said back in 2019 when plans for the game were more solidified.

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