Due to Uncertain Market, Alan Wake Devs Abandon F2P in Favor of Premium Model
Remedy and Tencent have decided to make a fresh start for their joint project. Among other things, its code name has changed - from Vanguard to Kestrel - as well as the model in which the game will be distributed.
Remedy Entertainment together with Tencent have decided to change plans for their mysterious game, which was known until now under the codename Vanguard. Today the two companies announced that a new direction has been taken for the project.
No longer F2P and no longer Vanguard
At the outset, let's recall what the said project was supposed to be in the first place. At the end of December 2021 Remedy signed a deal with Tencent to develop a game that relies heavily on multiplayer gameplay. According to the first plans, the game was to be available in free-to-play model.
Now we know that this will not happen. The new decisions of the companies assume that players will have to pay for the game. How do the developers explain this move? In their opinion in the "rapidly changing" market of F2P games there is too much risk to count on certain success.
For this very reason, the direction of the project had to be redefined. In addition to abandoning the free-to-play model the working name was also changed, from today the project will be known as Kestrel.
The project has returned to the conceptual phase, and part of the development team has been redirected to other duties, leaving only leadership and key developers in place.
"We have made significant progress in developing the multiplayer Vanguard. However, after careful consideration, we decided to take a new direction, in which the game will be centered more around Remedy's core competencies [...]," said Tero Virtala, CEO of Remedy Entertainment.
Remedy has recently achieved great success with the release of the long-awaited Alan Wake 2, which received very good reviews. The Finnish studio is also working on remakes of the first two parts of the much-loved Max Payne, as well as creating a spin-offs of i sequel to Control.
So let's hope that the "refreshed" Kestrel will turn out to be an equally interesting item in Remedy's portfolio and provide a lot of entertainment for the studio's fans. For now, however, we must wait for more information.
