<p>Remedy Entertainment, the studio behind last year’s <a href=”https://www.gameinformer.com/review/alan-wake-2/back-to-reality”>Alan Wake 2</a> and 2019’s <a href=”https://www.gameinformer.com/review/control/a-heady-power-trip”>Control</a>, has canceled Codename Kestrel, its “premium cooperative multiplayer game.” The game, which was being co-financed and co-published by Tencent, was in the early concept stage, according to Remedy, with only a small team working on it. </p>
<p>The studio says it canceled Codename Kestrel to focus on other games it’s developing in its portfolio, noting that because of this cancelation, its other projects will get “experienced developers reassigned from Kestrel.”</p>
<p>Plus, Remedy says planned investment and the need to recruit additional employees for Kestrel is removed with this cancelation. </p>
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“Codename Kestrel showed early promise, but the project was still in its early concept stage,” Remedy CEO Tero Virtala writes in a <a href=”https://investors.remedygames.com/announcements/remedy-entertainment-plc-codename-kestrel-cancelled-as-remedy-focuses-on-existing-franchises/”>press release</a>. “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.”
<p>Codename Kestrel, as a project, began in November 2023 as a reboot from an earlier Remedy project codenamed Vanguard. </p>
<p>This cancelation arrives just a couple of weeks after Remedy’s latest update about its in-development games, which is where the studio said Codename Kestrel remains in the concept stage. It’s also where Remedy revealed the <a href=”https://www.gameinformer.com/2022/11/11/control-2-in-concept-stage-as-remedy-announces-development-deal-with-505-games”>Control 2</a> team is focused on finalizing the proof-of-concept stage and that <a href=”https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2023/10/31/remedy-provides-update-on-control-2-says-max-payne-remakes-are-in-production”>Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake</a> are expected to enter full production in Q2 of this year. You can read that update <a href=”https://www.gameinformer.com/2024/04/29/remedy-shares-development-updates-for-control-2-max-payne-1-2-remake-and-codename-condor”>here</a>. </p>
<p><em>Do you think Remedy is making the right call by canceling Codename Kestrel? Let us know in the comments below!</em></p>