Arkane Austin Was Working on a Big Redfall Update for May Before Microsoft Ditched the Game and Closed the Studio

07.05.2024 - 22:01 / ign.com / Phil Spencer / Arkane Austin / Bethesda Softworks / Pete Hines / Matt Booty

The now abandoned Redfall had a roadmap of support that was being actively worked on before Microsoft scrapped all development and closed its developer, IGN can reveal.

Arkane Austin was working on DLC and updates for the game with the expectation they would release until very recently, IGN understands, suggesting Microsoft’s internal announcement today that it was closing the developer as well as Hi-Fi Rush studio Tango Gameworks came as a shock to staff.

IGN was told that the now canceled Hero Pass content, which was set to add two new characters to the vampire co-op shooter, was scheduled for release this Halloween. If it had come out, the Hero Pass would have marked a year-and-a-half of post-launch support for a game that had suffered a disastrous launch and an ever-shrinking playerbase.

Reached by IGN, representatives for Xbox and Bethesda declined to comment.

In an email sent to staff today, May 7, Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, blamed the cuts on a “reprioritization of titles and resources.” The email, verified by IGN, includes confirmation that Redfall’s servers will remain online.

However, there is now fresh concern that the always-online Redfall could become unplayable if and when Microsoft shuts its servers off. In March last year, ahead of Redfall’s release, Arkane Austin said it was working on a fix that would reverse Redfall’s always-online requirement, an aspect that was met with backlash when first announced.

In an interview with Eurogamer, game director Harvey Smith said: “We listen. And we have already started work to address this in the future. We have to do some things like encrypt your save games and do a bunch of UI work to support it. And so we are looking into — I'm not supposed to promise anything — but we're looking into and working actively toward fixing that in the future.”

However, the offline mode failed to materialize. IGN understands Redfall’s May update would have added the ability to play offline, which in turn would have helped with keeping the game alive in the future. Unfortunately for players, it will never see the light of day.

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Redfall is one of the highest-profile disasters in Xbox history. The game was widely panned by critics and players at launch and reportedly had a deeply troubled development. Redfall's launch struggles ultimately resulted in executives like Phil Spencer and Matt Booty issuing statements about Xbox's own role in its weak release. Last year, then-Bethesda Softworks publishing head Pete Hines reassured players that Arkane wouldn’t give up on Redfall, insisting he was confident it would be a good game people wanted