Microsoft speaks out about the failed Redfall and the current situation at the heart of studio Arkane Austin.
The vampires got too close to the sun. What was supposed to be Arkane’s latest nugget and an excellent Xbox exclusive quickly turned into a nightmare. AI at the bottom of the daisies, wobbly optimization and an almost boring progression got the better of red fall. As soon as it was released, the title reaped the anger of players and the disappointment of critics. This co-op adventure with a rather well thought-out universe was going to be a nice surprise but is ultimately only a shadow of itself.
Even Edward Cullen is more charismatic than the vampires of red fall. Jokes aside, the title has already suffered the wrath of gamers enough and it’s time to take stock of the situation. What will become of this online game with great ambitions? Will the studio be able to keep its promises of additional content and updates to keep the adventure going? Until then, nothing was less certain. Some even saw Microsoft closing the doors of the studio after such a disaster. But never mind, Microsoft Studios boss Matt Booty spoke about it during an interview with Axios Gaming.
Catch up with the sinking
The Redmond firm does not aim to give up so quickly. Asked about a potential closure of the studio and therefore an outright abandonment of Redfall, Booty was categorical. “We hope the studio will stay open despite the game’s initial reception.” spoke the Axiom journalist, to which the big boss replied “That’s our plan right now. The developers are working hard on new updates and continuous content for Redfall.”
Matt Booty even seems convinced that it is not really such a failure, thanks to the Game Pass. According to him, the game continues to get good game statistics through the subscription plan offered by Xbox. “It was a failure, but how failed?” he added. “I wish I could give them support to allow them to release the game they had imagined.”
For now, red fall therefore seems to be safe from an untimely end. However, it is a pattern that seems to repeat itself over and over again as more and more live service titles only manage to survive for more than a few years. Even the rescue attempt for Marvel’s Avengers failed to bear fruit. Only time will tell us if red fall manages to pull out of the lot or if he too will end up in the mortuary pit of live service games which is filling up day by day.