Alan Wake 2 has landed in good shape, so Remedy Entertainment is turning its attention to the next project, which is being created under the name Codename Vanguard. This has now been rebuilt and realigned on a large scale.

Alan Wake fans had to wait years for the successor Alan Wake 2 – but the wait was worth it given the successful new horror adventure! While you can currently let off steam in the horror world, Remedy Entertainment itself has long since turned its attention to the future. With “Codename Vanguard,” the studio is creating a multiplayer title, but here the work seems to be starting all over again.

Remedy last mentioned “Codename Vanguard” in a financial report in April of this year. At that time there was still talk of a multiplayer title in the free-to-play model, which is in the conception phase. The studio initially left further details about the game open.

Now Remedy has released a new update and confirmed: The planned free-to-play model will be dropped for the game and the development has been rebooted. As of now, the project runs under the working name “Kestrel”; In addition, it will now be a premium game that you have to buy regularly.

The planned multiplayer elements from “Codename Vanguard” are to be retained in “Kestrel”, but essentially these will be adapted in view of the newly chosen business model. The result is that “Kestrel” is now a “premium game with a strong cooperative multiplayer component.”

According to the announcement, the step became necessary due to the rapidly changing free-to-play market and the associated risks. Remedy Entertainment and publishing partner Tencent therefore agreed to completely reboot the development cycle, rebrand the project and send it back to the concept phase.

Important: This (backward) step does not involve any layoffs. Remedy CEO Tero Virtala further emphasized that they are convinced that the realignment will be more in line with Remedy’s core competencies.