Alan Wake Studio Remedy signs deal with Tencent for its first Games-As-A-Service title

Alan Wake studio Remedy remains very busy. Along with Alan Wake 2, the studio has now announced a big deal with Tencent for its upcoming free-to-play shooter Vanguard.

Remedy and Tencent announced an agreement covering “global development, licensing and distribution” of the new IP. Little is known about Vanguard, but Remedy says it’s a co-operative PvE shooter that makes the most of Remedy’s “narrative expertise and action gameplay” to create an “experience immersive multiplayer”.

“The game is being developed with Unreal Engine for PC and console platforms. Remedy will develop and publish the game worldwide, excluding certain Asian markets, where Tencent will localize and publish the game,” Remedy said in his announcement.

Vanguard is in the “proof-of-concept phase” of development, and Remedy said the game’s budget through the end of its first year will be “in the range of a typical Remedy AAA game budget”.

The development will be co-funded by Remedy and Tencent, and Tencent will cover Vanguard’s localization costs for Asian markets.

“Remedy and Tencent will be responsible for their own costs of publishing and operating games in their respective territories while sharing a portion of the revenue with the other party after recovering development costs,” Remedy said.

Additionally, Tencent has sold the worldwide rights to a mobile version of Vanguard to Tencent, which will cover development and publishing expenses for the mobile edition.

Vanguard is Remedy’s first games-as-a-service title, and Remedy CEO Tero Virtala said in a statement that this is an exciting time for the company.

“Vanguard marks Remedy’s first entry into the games-as-a-service business model, executed by our team of leading free-to-play gaming experts. We’re building something new and exciting for the multiplayer space. cooperative, in addition to Remedy’s forces,” Virtala said. Expanding our capabilities to take on publishing responsibilities is the next step in our business development. We are delighted with this long-term partnership with Tencent and can confidently say that it fits perfectly into Vanguard’s ambitious plans. Vanguard is a global opportunity, and Tencent can support Remedy internationally and lead operations in Asia and mobile markets. »

No release date for Vanguard has been announced, but since it’s in the proof-of-concept phase, it’s likely there will still be some time left. Remedy is also working on Alan Wake 2, among other projects.