Remedy Entertainment is known for its single-player campaigns, but announced in 2018 that it was experimenting with multiplayer, too, which resulted in the reveal of a cooperative Control spin-off back in June. And now the team has stated that it is creating yet another cooperative title. However, this one will be a new IP that’s free-to-play and currently codename Vanguard.
Remedy discussed Vanguard in a post on its investor site. This free-to-play shooter will feature the studio’s narrative touches and signature action gameplay and will be available on PC and consoles, but those consoles weren’t specified. It’ll also be on Unreal Engine, which is a departure for Remedy as its games from Control to Quantum Break to CrossfireX to the upcoming Alan Wake 2 all run on its proprietary Northlight Engine.
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Vanguard is still early in development and in the “proof-of-concept phase,” meaning footage might not come out for quite some time. But Remedy claims it will be a big game as the budget for its first year will be comparable to the typical budget it spends making its other AAA games. Some of this money will be coming from Tencent as the electronics giant is helping license and distribute the game in select Asian markets. In addition to developing the title, Remedy is publishing the game in other territories. Tencent is also developing and publishing a mobile version. Remedy CEO Tero Virtala spoke about the partnership.
“Vanguard marks Remedy’s first entry into Games-as-a-Service business model, executed by our top tier team of free-to-play experts,” said Virtala. “We are building something new and exciting for co-operative multiplayer space, on top of Remedy’s strengths. Expanding our capabilities to take on publishing responsibilities is the next step in the development of our company. We are excited for this long-term partnership with Tencent and with confidence can say that it is an excellent fit in supporting Vanguard’s ambitious plans. Vanguard is a global opportunity, and Tencent can support Remedy internationally, and lead the operations in Asia and the mobile markets.”
Vanguard is also the name of the team Remedy created in 2018 for this kind of multiplayer project. The team announced this initiative and said it wanted to “challenge conventions and create a new breed of social, multiplayer Remedy experiences.”
Remedy is a pretty busy studio as it has multiple projects in the works. It is developing another game in the Control universe, the Control co-op spin-off called Condor, Vanguard, and Alan Wake 2 in addition to finishing up the CrossfireX campaign that’s coming out in February.
