Finnish developer Remedy Entertainment (best known for its work on games such as Max Payne and Control) have entered into a development, license, and distribution agreement with publishing giant Tencent. The two parties will be working together in creating a free-to-play co-op PvE shooter codenamed “Vanguard”.
Vanguard is currently in the earliest stages of development, and will be the first games-as-a-service title to be developed by the studio. It will be developed using Unreal Engine for the PC as well as console platforms. According to the agreement, Tencent will localize the game for Asian markets and will presumably work on a mobile version of the game further down the line. The budget for the game is said to be that of “a typical Remedy AAA” title.
“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 CEO of Remedy Entertainment Tero 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.”
Remedy previously announced a team in 2018 that would explore the development of live-service games, so it’s very likely that the same team would be in charge of developing this game too. This announcement also follows shortly after Tencent acquired a minority stake in the Finnish development giant. As it stands, Remedy has multiple projects planned for the near future – Alan Wake 2, a Control-multiplayer spinoff called Condor, a full-blown sequel to Control, and the single-player portion of CrossFireX and maybe even more.
