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Remedy Entertainment, the studio best known for the "Max Payne" series, "Alan Wake," and "Control," announced that it entered an agreement with Tencent for an upcoming game. Details about the gameplay are still under wraps, but the Espoo, Finland-based developer, confirmed it is going to be a free-to-play title.
The project, codenamed Vanguard, was announced on Tuesday with an official statement addressed to Remedy Entertainment's investors. The game, which will feature player-versus-environment elements, will be co-financed by Tencent, one of the biggest video game publishers worldwide.
Video game fans are likely familiar with Remedy Entertainment's work with story-driven single-player campaigns by now, especially with acclaimed titles like "Alan Wake" and "Control." While Vanguard is primarily planned as a cooperative multiplayer title, the developer promises to bring its "narrative expertise" to the upcoming title. Vanguard will be developed with the Unreal Engine and it is confirmed to launch on PC and consoles.
Like most free-to-play games, Vanguard is also confirmed to use the Games-as-a-service (GaaS) business model, which would be a first for Remedy Entertainment. Simply put, GaaS titles are known for having a steady stream of content that players can purchase through microtransactions to generate revenue.
In the statement to investors, Remedy Entertainment said Vanguard is the studio's original IP. Remedy will also develop and publish the upcoming game worldwide, while Tencent will handle its localization and publishing in Asian territories.
Part of the deal and similar to Tencent's approach with "PUBG," the Chinese video game giant will also solely develop and publish a mobile version of Vanguard under a licensing agreement with Remedy. Tencent also gets the worldwide rights to distribute the mobile game worldwide. This should allow the companies to release it in China, where foreign developers have to go through a very stringent process of getting government approval to launch a game. Niko Partners reported last May that China's domestic mobile game revenue climbed to $29.2 billion, while the mobile gamer population was up to 681.7 million by the end of 2020.
Remedy did not say when Vanguard will be released, but it might launch anytime soon. The developer said the project is still in the proof-of-concept phase.
