A Redfall offline mode was imminent before Microsoft shut down Arkane Austin, according to report

Redfall is getting a final update which will add an offline mode and singleplayer pausing, among other changes. The news was announced via the Redfall account on X, which also thanked players for their "supportive messages" in light of developer Arkane Austin's imminent closure by Microsoft.

Redfall is getting one final update after all.

Xbox fans, and some of their employees, were blindsided earlier this month when Microsoft announced a number of their studios were being shuttered, including the “gut stab” closure of Arkane Austin, developer of the acclaimed Prey and the more troubled Redfall. Following the announcement Arkane Austin was shutting up shop, it was reported that the team had been working on additional updates for Redfall, including one that would deliver a long-promised offline mode. Unfortunately, at the time, it seemed unlikely any of these promised updates would come to fruition.

Despite announcing the end of development forRedfall, Arkane Austin has confirmed a final update. In a new tweet, the studio revealed that Game Update 4 is in the works and would add single-player pausing and offline mode. Furthermore, it revamps the Neighborhood and Nest systems.

Microsoft had announced in February that it would bring four of its exclusive Xbox titles to rival platforms from Sony and Nintendo. It seems the company is not stopping with its four first-party games coming to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. A new report claims that the Xbox parent intends to make a multi-platform push for more of its games. Under the plan, internally codenamed “Latitude,” more upcoming first-party Xbox titles are said to be in development for the PS5.

Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty has reportedly said Microsoft needs smaller games that will earn it «prestige and awards» a day after shutting down Tango Gameworks.

It seems Redfall was gearing up to release a big update for May 2024 before Arkane Austin was suddenly shuttered by Xbox. Redfall got off to a very rough start when it first launched last year. The game released to overwhelmingly negative reviews and was quickly abandoned. Despite this, there were still plans to release Redfall DLC characters and updates to improve the experience.

The sudden closure of several video-game studios at Microsoft's Xbox division was the result of a widespread cost-cutting initiative that still isn't finished.

Arkane Austin is officially no more, and Studio Director Harvey Smith, who has worked at Arkane for over sixteen years, shared all his emotions in a long and heartfelt thread on Twitter/X. Over the course of his 30-plus-year-long career in the industry, Smith was a lead designer at Ion Storm on Deus Ex, a director on Deus Ex: Invisible War, and a designer on Thief: Deadly Shadows. After a brief stint at Midway, he joined Arkane to be a creative director, designer, and writer on the first Dishonored.

A new report suggests that Microsoft's decision to close Redfall developer Arkane Austin and cease work on the game came just before the expected release of a major update, with additional content also planned for the rest of the year.

Xbox rocked the games industry earlier this week by closing down Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin, two developers responsible for beloved titles such as The Evil Within series, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and the Prey reboot. Pretty much everyone was surprised by the announcement, including the people at Tango and Arkane Austin themselves, who were reportedly in the middle of pitching new projects to Xbox before being shut down.

After Microsoft purchased Activision Blizzard, many wondered whether the tech giant would follow its current precedent of putting its first-party games on Game Pass on the same day as their official release date. More specifically, this would include Call of Duty, one of the most profitable gaming franchises over the last several years.