A report by Bloomberg shed some new light on the development of Redfall, Arkane’s first multiplayer co-op shooter and also the developers’ first major flop in its history of making excellent immersive sims.
Despite what the developer has said publicly on Redfall being a game they wanted to make, internally not everyone is saying that. According to Bloomberg’s report, there were some staff at the developer studio in Austin that hoped that Redfall was cancelled, or be rebooted as a single-player game, after Microsoft acquired the developer’s parent company ZeniMax (which owns publisher Bethesda, which Arkane is under).
The only cancellation was the PlayStation version of Redfall, which was in development for some time. Since the acquisition, all new games released by Bethesda have been Xbox and PC exclusives, which include Hi-Fi Rush and the upcoming Starfield.
The creation of Redfall is the result of ZeniMax “strongly urging developers at its subsidiaries to implement microtransactions”, the same push that resulted in Fallout 76 and Wolfenstein Youngblood. All of these games, including Redfall, were poorly received.
Arkane Austin, the particular studio behind Redfall, also suffered from massive turnover. Over 70% of the staff credited with making Prey (2017), the game they made before Redfall, was not seen in Redfall’s credits, according to Bloomberg.
This is further exacerbated by Arkane Austin finding it difficult in recruiting the right people. The location of the office was cited as one problem, but the other problem is attracting the right candidates, as most of the applicants apply to work on an immersive sim while the developer team is looking for people with online multiplayer experience.
The report also mentioned the lack of direction the game suffered. The team couldn’t nail down what a “multiplayer Arkane game” was supposed to mean (there are no crate stacking mechanics so in some people’s eyes that’s already a red flag), and how management shifting references of what sort of game they wanted to make- Far Cry and Borderlands were namechecked.
Redfall has been panned by critics and fans alike. The open-world looter-shooter has some decent worldbuilding and traversal that’s a staple of Arkane games, but everything else is terrible. From not-working AI that provides no challenge, to terrible loot drops and weak character abilities. We have aired our share of criticisms here.
Redfall is out now on PC and Xbox Series X|S. The game is available on Game Pass.
Source: Bloomberg (paywall)