Alan Wake developer Remedy cancels multiplayer project ‘to focus on other games’

Remedy has cancelled one of its in-development multiplayer projects, codenamed Kestrel.

In a statement published on Tuesday, the Alan Wake 2 developer said that, in conjunction with co-financier Tencent, it had decided to cancel the project to focus on other games.

Kestrel – previously codenamed Vanguard – was “a premium cooperative multiplayer game” being created by a small team, according to Remedy. The company has a second multiplayer project in development, codename Condor, which takes place in the Control universe.

“The decision to cancel codename Kestrel allows Remedy to focus more on the other games in its portfolio,” the company said.

“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.”

Remedy’s CEO Tero Virtala commented: “Codename Kestrel showed early promise, but the project was still in its early concept stage. 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.”

Last year, Remedy gave updates on its upcoming titles, including Control 2 and the Max Payne 1 and 2 remakes.

“Control 2 continues in the proof-of-concept stage,” it explained. “The plans for this sequel are ambitious, and we have seen good progress both in the designs and in the game build. We will continue at this stage for the next few quarters. We focus on proving the identified key elements before moving to the next stage and scaling up the team.”

It also noted that the Max Payne 1 and 2 remake “progressed into the production readiness stage”, adding: “We have gained clarity on the style and scope of the game, and we have an exceptionally well-organized team working on it. With these accomplishments, we are excited about the project and its future success.”