An insider report on Redfall says that the development studio’s employees had hoped Microsoft would cancel the shooter before it was released.
What is Redfall? With Redfall, the development studio Arkane, known for single player insider tips like Prey and the highly acclaimed Deathloop, has ventured into the world of multiplayer: Redfall became a co-op shooter in which up to four players in a small town against numerous vampires fight and try to finish off the nasty creatures.
What was the problem with Redfall? On May 2nd, the time had come and Redfall was released after the release was postponed in the past. However, disillusionment soon set in, the first reviews of Redfall were lousy.
MeinMMO editor Maik Schneider also criticized some aspects of the shooter. The mouse and keyboard controls felt spongy and imprecise and the shooter gameplay felt bloodless.
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What is this insider report? Jason Schreier is a well-known gaming journalist who is considered to be extremely well connected and reliable. In a new report on the American website Bloomberg.com, Schreier now deals with the failed shooter Redfall and classifies some statements that people involved in the development made anonymously.
The report reports on numerous Arkane employees who left during the development of Redfall, changed plans in relation to the shooter and the hope of some employees that Microsoft would cancel Redfall before its release.
What exactly is in the report? Jason Schreier writes: People who worked on Redfall have spoken to him about an unclear direction of the game, frequent downsizing and a constant lack of staff.
Some experienced employees are said to have left the studio because they had no interest in developing a multiplayer title. According to Bloomberg, 70% of the staff who worked on Prey left the studio during Redfall’s development.
In general, morale at Arkane suffered at the time, writes Schreier. When Microsoft bought ZeniMax, the parent company of Bethesda and Arkane, in September 2021, some employees are said to have hoped Microsoft would delete Redfall or reboot it as a single player.
As is well known, Microsoft has not canceled Redfall. On the contrary, it was presented as the final reveal at the Xbox Showcase in June 2021 and released as a multiplayer title.
According to Schreier, there was one big change during development. According to the report, Redfall was developed in the first three years with strong plans for microtransactions. That then changed in 2021, when live service games were considered more controversial. Arkane then canceled any in-game monetization plans.
In the meantime, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has also commented on the failed Redfall release:
The Xbox boss explains why Bethesda’s new €70 game has become such a huge flop