Arkane Austin Devs Post Heartfelt Messages As Final Update Arrives For Redfall

I didn't mind Redfall, yes it was average but enjoyable

I am genuinely grateful this patch went live. Even if Redfall never hits its full potential, I'm glad it is at least left in a good state with fully functional offline mode.

GoodLuck to them whatever they do next

A shame the heartless Microsoft management didn't give them another chance. Not sure why the staff couldn't at least be transferred to another Xbox studio. Microsoft is throwing millions on third party deals while screwing over hard working people. Gamers won't forget and has done yet more damage the Xbox brand.

As I've always said they shouldn't have been forced to make a co op focused game they didn't want to do. This never leads to a good game.

The studio should have taken things far more serious, I mean these people are in the gaming business entertainment and there was nothing entertaining about Red Fall if anything it looked like they were actually sabotaging Xbox and themselves with every questionable decision they made about the game.

I say, those that can't deliver at their jobs, should face the consequences.

You are absolutely wrong. Since Xbox acquired Bethesda and all its studios Phil Spencer has been very clear in giving all studios the creativity freedom they need.

Now was it to much freedom that Arkane Austin took for granted?.... absolutely.

Phil Spencer should have been more firm and be more om top of the studio's leadership with higher expectations.

In gaming development "creativity freedom" is often taken for granted as Phil Spencer truly knows now.

All the best to everyone in their future endeavours @exArkane. Who worked hard under immense pressure no doubt, yet got rewarded by having their studio closed down 😔.

They sound like amazing and passionate people. Redfall has been in my bucket list to try from curiosity, so now might be a good time to finally give it a try.

@Gamer_X

In gaming development "creativity freedom" is often taken for granted as Phil Spencer truly knows now

How so, did Phil Spencer also lost his job for decisions other people made?

Bye.

That is all.

@Sol4ris : Phil Spencer didn't have to lose his job for him to see the consequences, he is now facing far more pressure from Microsoft's CEO to see those remaining studios to produce the proper results...and because of Phil Spencer's trusty attitude towards developers in "creativity freedom" that completely backfired on his face.

Everyone knows Phil Spencer as great guy and even greater Boss, but a great boss need to know how much freedom should be given in a job.

After playing Redfall, I am honestly shocked it wasn't made by a single person in a basement over a weekend. Microsoft was in the right for closing their studio and Redfall was one of the most embarrassing launches of a major game in the past decade easily.

redfall, one of the best games on series consoles after patches. hope you all find good jobs far away from microsoft. i'll be waiting to see your work on ps6 hopefully.

@Kooky_Geezer Do you think the gamers will also not forgive Sony for putting all the people out of work from London Studios when they closed it down this year ? What about the ones who were laid off from some of Sonys most successful studios including Naughty Dog, Insomniac and Gorilla Games this year? do you think the gamers should also not forgive Sony for that as well Or is it only when Microsoft do it?

@Sol4ris His radio silence does make me wonder if he is thinking of moving on due to his Microsoft boss's meddling...

@ZuneTattooGuy That ridiculous, hyperbolic take makes me sad to also be a fellow zune enthusiast.

@Kooky_Geezer The reality is that Redfall was not up to snuff and development was not completed, even when given an additional 9+ months by Microsoft.

People conveniently forget that MS bought Zenimax. There is still Bethesda in the chain before you ever get to Arkane Austin and Roundhouse. This is no small enterprise. Those studios would likely have been on the chopping block, acquisition or not.

We are not privy to the details, first and foremost, where (MS/XBox/Zenimax/Bethesda) and when did the closure plan originate? Redfall had been in turmoil long before MS closed the acquisition. Zeni/Beth/Arkane leadership may have been deceptive about the state of the game and what could be accomplished on schedule. We are still getting updates to make the game acceptable one year post-release.

@Gamer_X Redfall didn't start with Microsoft, it was already years into existence when MS bought it. The only options they really had were kill the project and probably close the studio before it ever launched, or release it as-is and hope it's well received. The bad OPTICS land on Xbox, and not managing hype or delays to polish it is on Xbox, but the problem with Redfall is isn't really MS related. It's that the studio was making a game their previous ownership dictated they were going to make for financial reasons they never wanted to make, long before Xbox bought them, because their parent company was financially in the toilet and grasping at trends to stay afloat, which is why they sold to Xbox to begin with.

This wasn't just an Arkane problem it was a top down problem Todd Howard talked about. Basically they made Fallout 76 because they couldn't make single player RPGs financially meet ends anymore at current costs, and they were going to be continuing down that road if MS hadn't bought them. And that was an even bigger problem for studios not as big as Todd's. Arkane (both Arkane's) games don't actually sell very well at all. They're beloved by fans, but terrible for sales. So corporate gave Lyon a Marvel game and Austin a generic online coop Gaas which became Redfall. As Mightyant said above the result was a lot of the staff that was really "Arkane Austin" has already been gone a long time because they never wanted to make Redfall to begin with.

Xbox has made nasty mistakes, and MS being the money pot they are going back on promises about the buyouts deserves anger, but blaming Redfall isn't correct. Redfall has little to do with MS. The fact that it exists at all and shouldn't have predates MS' involvement, it's a biproduct of Bethesda going toward bankruptcy prior to the buyout, not a biproduct of their buyer having bought them.

It's rare that MS's recent actions are defensible, but they're really the wrong party to blame for Redfall. It's a game from a bankrupt Bethesda, not from a newly purchased MS-owned Bethesda.

What MS DOES deserve blame for is shutting down a well regarded studio after just buying a bunch more studios, due to a game that was doomed to fail since long before they'd bought them.

@Sifi No I don't think it's right that Sony have done it either. These are big companies with plenty of cash making decent profits certainly not poverty stricken. You're telling me that they can't afford to keep staff on. In the case of Microsoft just axing a load of jobs and studios then spending millions on third party deals isn't a good luck.

I'm commenting about Microsoft as this is a Xbox site 🤷

@theduckofdeath I agree RedFall was an utter failure but that's on poor management. The game simply wasn't ready for launch either but it was decided to release and patch later like most games these days.

Arkane Austin made some good games in the past and could have again with the right support. Microsoft have always been bad at managing their studios it really shouldn't be so difficult with all the money they have.

Should have delivered a fun game, now you're out of a job.

Redfall was my go to game last summer. I had a great time with it.

I loved this game on day one. Going to replay it now.

@Vipor007 Jesus redfall isn’t a game you would gift a nephew they should’ve just made it a free to play game

Redfall was such an epic disaster that I actually understand the drastic actions MS took with the studio. Did they have to completely close the studio? Probably not, but I don’t have enough info on what MS’s plans are and the numbers for Arkane Austin in general. What I do know is again, that Redfall was a failure of epic proportions and this wasn’t the first time, nor will it be the last time, that a company is closed or employees let go when a product fails so completely.

Tango Gameworks I have a much much much harder time understanding. Either way, it’s nice to see they were given the opportunity to put out this last patch and hopefully everyone lands on both feet soon.

@NEStalgia For everything you said, still comes down to one thing: "Development Underperformance"

Red Fall would have been a flop regardless of which publisher it would have been under, the only question that still remains is:

"Should the Xbox Leadership still give developers that massive amount of freedom given the circumstances that have come to bite their ass?

I say no...Xbox needs tougher leadership that can follow a working formula and expectations.

@Gamer_X I'm not sure micromanagement could have had a positive impact on a game mostly through development that was a doomed concept from the start. I think they had to options here. Cancel it, or don't cancel it. I don't think there was a "fix it" option. It was too far along and the whole design doomed before it was theirs to affect.

@Kooky_Geezer You've never been asked to do something at work that you didn't want to do?

When you're a professional, you go do it. May not be fun. But you do it. And you do it well if have a strong work ethic.

@Gamer_X Nadella is terrible CEO in my opinion. All he cares about is anything and everything about the cloud. Puts his eggs into few baskets. Microsoft under his leadership has left them extremely vulnerable.

Truly feel he will hurt Microsoft and definitely Xbox in the long run.

@NEStalgia Dude that was long post. But 110% accurate in my eyes.

RIP to one of Xbox's greatest exclusives!!! I give it a 3/10 overall.

@GuyinPA75 : I agree with you, Nadella only cares about the immediate profits instead of the long term customer satisfaction....sadly he has the old type of Microsoft culture in him which runs with an unfocused agenda and with plenty of greed.

@NEStalgia: The game itself wasn't unsalvageable, the little things that were missing at launch mounted into the bigger picture....if the game would have released with a 60fps, offline single player mode, offline multiplayer coop, and more fun power ups, the game would not had the terrible outcome it had.

I mean it was so obvious what the game needed that they went and released the final patch with features I mentioned.

I blame this failure on management, the studio had too much freedom and zero liability till they got fired.

@Gamer_X Yep. Sadly and ironically they pushed out Ballmer for pretty much the reasons you listed above. Then want with Nadella.

Further shows Microsofts total complete inaptitude and extreme lack of foresight.

@Gamer_X If Redfall launched as it is today for $50, I really believe the game would have a solid enough fanbase to start a new franchise that could improve even more with each new game.

Launching at $70 in today's world and in the state it was really left the game straight up dead on arrival.

@GuyinPA75 : I agree....besides in an era where we expect games to run @60fps with offline single player mode it's very outrageous to see these developers not prioritizing both of those fan favorite features.

Reason enough I don't lose any sleep over Arkane Austin in being shutdown....it was certainly the studio's and management's fault.

@Gamer_X I could be wrong with this statement. But I really think many people fail to realize with lot these studio shutdowns that Microsoft very well could be offering jobs to the good employees. The bad and high maintenance ones are going bye-bye much like the studios. It is incredibly difficult to find good employees in today's world. No way they let those walk.

Then again, I think that one 343i employee snickerdoodle is still with 343i. That's one employee, if I was in charge, would be let go immediately. Very, very, poor interaction with people and fans, as well as big hypocrite.

@GuyinPA75 : Once more I agree with you....343 Studios is possibly the most problematic of all dragging Xbox down....At first everyone thought Bonny Ross was the issue, then she left and 343 studios still can't seem to find a leader that can push them ahead.

This would have been my #1 studio to fully micromanage or get most of them fired.

Their performance is straight out dreadful.