Report: Redfall Devs Reportedly Hoped That Project Would be Cancelled or Rebooted by Microsoft

redfall cancelled

A recent report delving into the development of Redfall sheds light on the reasons behind its commercial and critical failure. The report mentions anonymous sources from the Arkane team who hoped that Redfall would be cancelled or rebooted by Microsoft, among other reasons that set the game up for instant failure.

Redfall, the first-ever multiplayer, co-op shooter from Arkane Austin, was released exclusively on Xbox and PC platforms after Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion USD.

According to anonymous sources in the report, Arkane Austin, following the release of the critically acclaimed but commercially underperforming Prey in 2017, sought to fulfill its publisher’s advice and venture into the realm of games-as-a-service (GAAS) titles. The aim was to maximise the financial prospects and monetization potential of their projects.

However, this shift posed a challenge for Arkane Austin, as the studio was primarily known for its single-player experiences. Many leaders within the team were initially hesitant to embrace the idea of creating a multiplayer game, leading to confusion and demotivation among the developers.

Furthermore, the report highlights the significant staffing issues that plagued the development of Redfall. Arkane Austin operated with a team of fewer than 100 employees and received limited outsourcing support from Bethesda. Additionally, a considerable number of experienced developers who were not enthusiastic about working on a multiplayer title reportedly left the studio, including over 70% of the team behind Prey.

Several factors contributed to the staffing challenges faced by Arkane Austin. These included difficulties in filling vacancies, comparatively lower salaries, the studio’s location, and the need to convince employees to embrace the concept of a multiplayer-focused game as new developer’s were attracted to Arkane’s single-player immersive-sims.

The report also mentions the prominence of microtransactions in Redfall’s design. Under ZeniMax Media’s guidance, the company urged all its development studios to create live-service titles, with microtransactions being a big part of Redfall until 2021.

In the same year, ZeniMax was acquired by Microsoft, and while the microtransactions were removed from the final build, Arkane’s team was expecting more from Microsoft. They expected Redfall to either be cancelled or rebooted as a single-player only title. However, to the surprise of Arkane’s staff, Microsoft took a very hands-off approach and positioned Redfall as one of its flagship games for 2023, alongside Starfield.

Xbox head, Phil Spencer, also addressed Redfall’s failures, expressing his disappointment and saying that the team will “revisit the process” going forward. We can only hope that Bethesda’s upcoming flagship title, Starfield, does not go through the same fate Redfall did. We should be learning more about the upcoming title in Xbox Games Showcase set for June 11.

Source: Bloomberg

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