Jason Schreier has just published a new report on the development of Redfall on Bloomberg. Released in early May, the open world cooperative first person shooter game had a mixed reception among critics and fans, who were disappointed by the latest work of Arkane Austin, a studio with a sterling reputation until then.
Even Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer commented on the underwhelming launch, taking full responsibility for it and promising that the developer would work to improve Redfall.
Why did Arkane fail this time around? The Bloomberg report attempts to answer that very question. According to the anonymous sources cited in the article, the leadership of Arkane Austin( who had released the critically acclaimed but financially unsuccessful Prey in 2017) decided to follow ZeniMax’s non-binding encouragement to develop game-as-a-service titles to improve monetization.
However, the report says many developers at Arkane found the direction of Redfall confusing. They weren’t prepared to create a multiplayer game, nor were they very inclined to do so, and the shifting references made by the leaders at Arkane Austin made it hard to get a bead on what exactly the game would be.
Another big issue underlined in the report is the constant understaffing of Arkane Austin throughout the entire development of Redfall. The Texan office housed less than a hundred employees, and sources say by the end of the game’s production, over 70% of those who had worked on Prey were no longer at AA.
On the other hand, finding replacements versed in multiplayer games was troublesome both due to the studio’s location and the fact that Redfall hadn’t been announced yet, so most of the new hires were still attracted by the previous work done by the studio in the immersive simulation genre.
The report ends by citing the hope sparked in some of the staff by Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax for $7.5 billion. Folks at Arkane Austin hoped Microsoft would either cancel or reboot Redfall as a single player only game (much like BioWare has done with the new Dragon Age). Still, Microsoft kept a hands-off approach and the game continued on its trajectory.
In my review, I wrote:
With Redfall, Arkane strayed a bit too far from its roots and couldn’t nail the landing. While the core gameplay is fun, and there are moments of brilliance that harken back to Arkane’s glorious portfolio, most of the studio’s strengths clearly do not mesh well with the open world genre, as exemplified by the disappointing safe house missions. Additionally, the writing is very uneven, never succeeding in making the player care about any of the characters, and the co-op mode adds little substance.
In a pre-release Q&A, Arkane Austin’s Harvey Smith said he would likely return to making immersive simulations after Redfall. I certainly hope so. I would love a sequel to Prey, although with most of the developers having moved on from the studio, I have to wonder how it would turn out.
