Remedy Cancels Project Kestrel to Shift Focus to Established Franchises

Remedy has made a decisive move by cancelling their project known as Kestrel. This multiplayer game, which was in its early stages and backed by Tencent, will no longer be pursued. Instead, Remedy is shifting its focus towards established franchises within their portfolio.

Why the Shift?

According to Remedy's CEO Tero Virtala, the decision to cancel Kestrel was driven by the desire to concentrate on their existing projects, all of which are based on well-known franchises.

Virtala stated, "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 benefit."

What Was Kestrel?

While details about Kestrel were scarce, it was understood to be a premium cooperative multiplayer game. It emerged from an earlier project called Vanguard, initially envisioned as a free-to-play cooperative game. However, as Remedy and Tencent decided to emphasize Remedy's core strengths, Vanguard transitioned into a premium game and adopted the Kestrel project codename.

Reallocating Resources

With the cancellation of Kestrel, developers previously involved in the project will now be reassigned to work on games within established franchises. Notable among these is Control 2, a sequel confirmed in 2022.

Another project in the pipeline is codenamed Condor, described as a four-player cooperative spin-off set in the Control universe, first announced in 2021. Earlier this year, Remedy secured total ownership over the Control intellectual property.