In a very strategic pivot, Remedy Entertainment Plc announced the cancellation of a nascent game project, codenamed Kestrel, in collaboration with Tencent Plc. Kestrel began in November 2023 as a reboot of the original Vanguard project. At its core, Kestrel was imagined as a high-profile premium cooperative multiplayer game. Still, despite the up-and-coming project, the company will be forced to discontinue it so that it can reallocate resources towards more mature projects within the Remedy portfolio.
Remedy Cancels Project Kestrel after Community Feedback
The massive human factor here is feedback from the gaming community. Many players have said they prefer the rich narrative-driven games by Remedy over the multiplayer format.
However, the company’s admission underscored the outsized influence of fan sentiment on game development decisions. Fans labeled the potential for Alan Wake 2 to be an “immersive experience” and showed little excitement over the studio “changing its focus” to multiplayer efforts.
Feedback ranged from long-time fans expressing nostalgia for the single-player classics to newer audiences drawn in by the deep storytelling and character development that multiplayer formats often lack.
Remedy Focusing on Core Strengths like Alan Wake
Refocusing on Core Strengths Responding to this feedback, the CEO of Remedy Entertainment, Tero Virtala, further strengthened the studio’s strategic realignment of focusing on its critically acclaimed franchises in a press release.
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.
This shift will not only cater to what the fans want but also do justice to the excellent reputation of Remedy for being good at single-player story delivery. The decision to cancel Kestrel underlines the team’s determination to deliver quality and how respectful the studio is toward community choices in making content that resonates deeply with the audience.
By abandoning the project Kestrel, Remedy is doubling down on story-driven experiences. Do you think it’s better for Remedy to stick to single-player adventures, or should the company spice things up with its first multiplayer experience? Leave the comment below and let us know what gaming experiences you look forward to.
