Alan Wake 2 creator, Remedy Entertainment, cancels multiplayer game in favour of existing IP

Remedy Entertainment - creators of Alan Wake 2 and Control - has announced the cancellation of Codename Kestral. This early-in-development premium multiplayer title has been in the works for a little bit, but has seemingly been thrown to the wind in favour of focusing more on established IP.

This news came courtesy of an official post on the Remedy Entertainment website. The decision is notably coined by both Remedy Entertainment and Tencent, the chinese corporation that owns over 15% of the developer.

"Remedy Entertainment Plc (“Remedy”) and Tencent Plc (“Tencent”) have decided to cancel the game project codename Kestrel. Codename Kestrel had a small team working on the early concept stage of a premium cooperative multiplayer game. The game was being developed by Remedy, co-financed with Tencent, and to be co-published with Tencent. The project started in November 2023 as a reboot from an earlier project codenamed Vanguard."

The post continues, "The decision to cancel codename Kestrel allows Remedy to focus more on the other games in its portfolio. 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 offered additional context and justification for this move at the bottom of this announcement. "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."

Virtala continues, "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."

Remedy Entertainment, best known for its single player experiences, have garnered a favourable place in the hearts of gamers due to the merits of its narrative and exceptional gameplay in its single player titles. A multiplayer game in this market - especially one sold at a premium - may have sat unsteady in the minds of those making big decisions at both Remedy and Tencent. A quick glance at the current industry and how many multiplayer games that were free have been shut down makes such a venture quite scary I imagine.

And as the post says, the studio has other games better built towards its fanbases' established tastes. A safer option, to be sure, but one wonders just what Codename Kestrel could've looked like...

What do you think it was? Let us know below!