Remedy has revealed that its in-development premium cooperative multiplayer game, Codename Kestrel, has been cancelled. Previously, Kestrel was known as Vanguard, and the monied Chinese holding company Tencent was set to handle publishing.
Remedy said that cancelling Kestrel will allow the studio to focus on its other in-development projects, which include a multiplayer outing set in the Control universe (Project Condor, said to be in the final stage of development) and remakes of Max Payne 1 and 2. In a press release (thanks, Eurogamer), Remedy said:
"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 operation."
Despite Alan Wake 2's critical success, it was recently revealed that Remedy has yet to recoup its development and marketing costs for the project some six months after launch. The ever-watchful Tencent, perhaps sensing blood in the water, took the opportunity to significantly raise its stake to 15% in the Finnish developer.