According to a new report from Bloomberg.
That didn’t happen, however, and Redfall launched on May 2 to poor reception from critics and gamers. game informant gave it a 5 out of 10 in our review. Xbox chief Phil Spencer said on Xcast by Kinda Funny Games that he was disappointed with the launch of Redfall. “I’m angry with myself,” he told the Xbroadcast.
Despite hopes for a new take on the game after this acquisition in 2020, Microsoft remained inactive and allowed development of the title to continue as normal, except for the cancellation of a PlayStation 5 version of Redfall.
Bloomberg reports that Arkane began development on Redfall in 2018, a time when ZeniMax, Bethesda’s parent company, was still private and not owned by Microsoft. It is said behind the scenes that Zenimax was encouraging studios to develop games that could be monetized beyond launch. The company basically had its studios create what we now call “games as a service” or live games, a type of game popularized by Bungie’s Destiny series.
While Zenimax “strongly” encouraged its studios to create this type of game, according to Bloomberg, he stopped before forcing it. Redfall was born out of this push, and development began a year after the critically well-received but financially less successful Prey was released in 2017. Arkane wanted to do something more appealing after Prey’s release, and the studio landed on the idea of Redfall.
Development was led by Harvey Smith and Ricardo Bare, and the two pitched Redfall as an “Arkane multiplayer game”. Bloomberg writing. However, some members of the team found it confusing, and over time the tension continued to build as a studio with less than 100 people who had focused on the single-player games of Arkane’s past clashed. to the multiplayer ideas at play in Redfall. Bloomberg reports that 70% of the remaining staff who worked on Prey left Arkane during development of Redfall.
Without a clear vision of what this multiplayer game would be like, the studio struggled to compensate for this staff reduction with new recruits. According Bloomberg, it was difficult to explain what Redfall was to potential recruits. Additionally, many applying to work at Arkane were looking to work on the type of single-player title the studio is known for, not a multiplayer FPS.
Bloomberg’s report delves into all of this, so be sure to read it for the full story.
game informant has contacted Microsoft and Bethesda for comment. A Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment, and Bethesda had not responded at press time.
To learn more, read game informant Redfall review.
[Source: Bloomberg]