The Story Behind Redfall's Poor Reviews
Find out the story behind the poorly-reviewed Xbox game Redfall, from unclear direction to an understaffed team to a game that many devs didn't want to make.
Jason Schreier
Reporter at Bloomberg | co-host of @tripleclickpod | New York Times bestselling author of Press Reset + Blood, Sweat, and Pixels + ? | jschreier@gmail | he/him
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Redfall, from Xbox's well-respected Arkane Studios, is one of the year's worst-reviewed games. What happened? It's a story of unclear direction, a severely understaffed team, and a game that many devs didn't actually want to make.
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) June 1, 2023
My latest investigation: https://t.co/R4iHzuHfx9 -
Redfall started development in 2018. Arkane's Prey had been a flop, ZeniMax demanded microtransactions, and management wanted to make a game with broad appeal. It was pitched as a "multiplayer Arkane game" — but it was never clear what that would mean, or how it would work.
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) June 1, 2023 -
Arkane was always understaffed, but on Redfall, attrition also became a significant problem. By the end of Redfall's development, a whopping 70% of the Arkane Austin developers who worked on Prey were no longer there, according to people familiar as well as a Bloomberg analysis.
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) June 1, 2023 -
By 2023, Redfall's microtransactions were gone, but the problems remained. Arkane leadership promised that the game would coalesce with "Arkane magic" (sound familiar?) but it never did. Full story: https://t.co/R4iHzuHfx9
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) June 1, 2023 -
To be clear, when I say that "many devs" didn't want to make Redfall I am referring to people on the ground floor (many of whom left the company). Arkane leadership is another story.
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) June 1, 2023 -
Here's a link to my Redfall investigation without the paywall https://t.co/7S4VjqjP54
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) June 1, 2023