Control and Max Payne developer Remedy Entertainment is working with Tencent on a new free-to-play co-op multiplayer game

Remedy Entertainment, the studio behind successful games like Max Payne and Control, just announced a global deal with Tencent to develop, license and distribute a free-to-play co-op multiplayer game codenamed Vanguard. This is a new IP from Remedy that will be developed with Unreal Engine for both PC and Console.

Remedy will develop and publish the game worldwide, with the exception of certain Asian markets, where Tencent will localize and publish the game. This will allow the game to have a much wider reach than was previously possible. Remedy confirmed that the game would be a typical Remedy AAA-level project, funded at the time by Tencent. Along with the PC and console versions of the game, the studio has confirmed that there will also be a mobile version of the game developed and published by Tencent.

Remedy and Tencent team up on new multiplayer game codenamed Vanguard

“Vanguard marks Remedy’s first foray into the Games as a Service business model, delivered by our top-notch team of free-to-play game experts,”said Tero Virtala, CEO of Remedy Entertainment. “We are excited about this long-term partnership with Tencent and can confidently say that it is a great fit to support Vanguard’s ambitious plans. Vanguard is a global opportunity and Tencent can support Remedy internationally and lead operations in Asia and the mobile markets.”

This will be Remedy’s first foray into the game-as-a-service model, which remains a pretty hot topic in the gaming community. Mostly because the studio has been making some of the most beloved story-driven single-player games of the last couple of decades.

However, the studio assured fans that “Vanguard”will indeed combine Remedy’s storytelling experience and combat gameplay into an “immersive multiplayer experience.”At the moment, the studio seems to be working to its fullest: several projects have already been announced (Crossfire X, Alan Wake 2 and others), and many more are under development.