Big Redfall Update Was in the Works Before Studio Closure

09.05.2024 - 18:32 / gamerant.com / Arkane Austin / Arkane Studios / Dalton Cooper

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.

Redfall was poorly-received out of the gate and failed to generate much interest. Considering this, it's really no surprise that Xbox eventually decided to give up on the game, but it seems that decision was a very recent one. According to reports, Redfall was actively being worked on at the time of Arkane Austin being shut down. In fact, there were plans to release a big update for the game this month that would have added an important new game mode.

According to IGN, Redfall was going to add an offline mode as part of its May 2024 update. This mode would have been huge for game preservation reasons, as Redfall currently requires an online connection. It's entirely possible that Redfall servers will one day be shut down, which would render the game completely unplayable. Redfall's lack of popularity means that such an event may not impact all that many people in the grand scheme of things, but it still would have been nice for the game to get a proper offline mode.

Developer Arkane Austin had already released multiple updates to improve Redfall since the game's disastrous launch. One particularly important Redfall update added 60 FPS, an option that was missing at launch. Other updates have addressed bugs and adjusted the game's balance based on fan feedback. Unfortunately for anyone that was enjoying Redfall, though, there will be no further updates for the game.

This means that the promised Redfall DLC characters will never be released. According to the same report, Redfall's two new DLC characters were going to be added to the co-op vampire FPS around Halloween season. Now that Arkane Austin has been shut down and all development on Redfall has ended, Microsoft has promised to do something to make it up for anyone that purchased the game's Bite Back Edition, which had the DLC characters as its main selling point. Specifics on how exactly Microsoft will be making it up to Redfall fans who will no longer be getting their promised DLC characters have not been revealed at this time.

Redfall is a new single-player and multiplayer first-person shooter from Arkane Studios and Bethesda. The premise sees players battling against vampires, supernatural entities, and other humans in the town of Redfall, Massachusettes. The game features an open world but is also story-driven.