Microsoft caused a stir today when it announced the closure of four Bethesda studios. This also has a direct impact on the future fate of the flopped Redfall.
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The last few months have not been easy in the games industry, as pretty much all major publishers and developers have laid off a large number of employees. Microsoft made the next punchline in this regard today when it officially confirmed the closure of four Bethesda studios.
This also affects Arkane Austin, which was recently responsible for Redfall, which started with high hopes but then pretty much flopped – and that has a direct impact on the game itself. Anyone who still hoped that major rework would make Redfall a good game after all , can now safely bury these hopes.
With the end of Arkane Austin, the end of Redfall was ultimately sealed. A statement about the studio's closure said: “Today it was announced that Arkane Austin will be closing and development on Redfall will not continue.”
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— Arkane Studios (@ArkaneStudios) May 7, 2024
After thanking the community for their support and loyalty, they emphasized that Arkane Lyon will continue to exist and will focus on delivering immersive gaming experiences in a new project in the future. It then goes on to say about Redfall: “While there will be no further updates, Redfall's servers will remain online so that players can continue to enjoy it.”
At least the title can be played for the time being, although the buyers of the game are unlikely to be satisfied with it overall. Since not all promised content was delivered, there are also refunds: “Redfall players who purchased the Hero Pass as part of the Premium Bite Back Edition or the Premium Bite Back Upgrade can receive a refund of the equivalent value of the upgrade.”
The Redfall chapter will probably finally end in a few months or years at the latest, when the servers will also be taken offline; When that will happen remains to be seen.
In addition to Arkane Austin, Microsoft also closed the developers of Hi-Fi Rush, Tango Gameworks, as well as Mighty Doom and Alpha Dog Studios.
Redfall has already had a few stumbling blocks, starting with the false assumption that it was “Left 4 Dead with vampires”. Numerous postponements were also not positive, just like the announcement that the 60 fps mode on the Xbox Series X would only be delivered via patch after the release. Now the game is finally here and despite all the problems beforehand, we were excited to see whether Arkane Austin could build on old strokes of genius like Dishonored or Prey. Spoiler: No! Not at all.