Remedy wants to overcome co-op problems for upcoming game Vanguard

The studio is best known for its single-player titles, but its next release is something outside its comfort zone.

Finish games firm Remedy wants to try and address some of the issues that face co-op games with its upcoming Vanguard.

That's according to the company's CEO, Tero Virtala, who told GamesIndustry.biz that one of the problems facing co-op titles is making sure that games last long enough. Though Remedy is best known for its narrative-driven single-player games like Max Payne and Control, one of the studio's upcoming releases is Vanguard, a free-to-play co-op title.

"Multiplayer gaming is a highly competitive space, especially when you talk about PvP or team-vs-team games -- but in the co-op space, there are a few highly successful games," Virtala said.

"There's a clear reason for that: in PvP and team-vs-team, the content creation is not that big of an issue because the other players are the content -- they're always making the experience new, session after session.

"In co-op games, the challenge was often the content treadmill. In order to create long-lasting experiences, the developer cannot rely solely on handcrafting and making every single level and mission unique because that's not typically a path that's sustainable. We saw that there are unsolved questions about how a long-lasting, service-based co-op game could be made. If we can solve those problems, if we can bring the way we tell stories via the world and exploration, those could be elements we can utilise better in co-op than PvP."

As of December last year, Remedy's most recent release – Control – has sold 2 million copies. While the studio is happy with the game's performance, Virtala says that it hasn't yet become a "major hit."

In addition to Vanguard, Remedy also has two more games in the works with Epic Games as publisher.