Remedy Entertainment, the developer behind the Max Payne franchise, has given fans an update about the remake for the first two titles after Tencent tripled its investment in the studio.
The company announced in a report for shareholders that the Max Payne 1 & 2 remake is expected to move into "full production" during Q2 of this year. Furthermore, Remedy Entertainment's upcoming multiplayer action game, Codename Kestrel, which was formerly known as Vanguard, is still in the concept stage.
Updates Regarding Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake
(Photo : Remedy Entertainment / Screenshot taken from official website)
On the other hand, the team behind Control 2 is said to be finalizing its proof of concept and is expected to advance to the "production readiness stage" during Q2. The multiplayer game currently known as Codename Condor which is set in the Control universe is in "the final development stage before a game is launched."
With all of these titles in development, Remedy Entertainment has received a new influx of funds from its current stakeholder Tencent. The latter had previously acquired a minority (3.8%) stake in the former that was later increased to 5%, according to IGN.
Now, Remedy Entertainment announced that Tencent has increased its stake once again, bringing it to 14.8%, which is nearly triple that of the previous figure. Remedy Entertainment recently acquired rights to the Control franchise from 505 Games.
It is also now discussing future partnerships and business and publishing models, including self-publishing. At the start of February, Alan Wake 2 sold 1.3 million units and Remedy Entertainment said that the game has recouped "a significant part" of its expenses.
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The developer also announced that its COO, Christopher Schmitz, was resigning and that long-time Remedy veteran and Control game director Mikael Kasurinen is being appointed as a company-wide creative director.
The remake for the first two Max Payne games was first announced in 2022 alongside the sequel for Control. With the latest announcement, fans of both franchises now have a better grasp of when they can expect the new titles to come out, said GameRant.
Increased Investment in Remedy Entertainment
Many players believe that the remake for Max Payne 1 & 2 has been a long time coming as the smash hit titles were originally released in 2001 and 2003, respectively. On the other hand, Control proved to be a major success for Remedy Entertainment when it was released in 2019.
The remake for the first two Max Payne games is slated to be a rebuilt version of the two titles combined into one brand-new release. It has been in pre-production readiness since October 2023 and Remedy Entertainment previously issued investors and fans that it will move into full production by Q2 this year, which it has delivered.
Remedy Entertainment CEO Tero Virtala said that they are now weighing self-publishing and related business models following Tencent's investment. They are also actively looking into different partner publishing models and are evaluating potential partners.
The company added that it expects to have two projects in full production simultaneously, adding that they are confident that the good progress of the start of the year carries over to the full production stages, according to GameInformer.
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