Redfall (Co-op shooter)

[von Humboldt]

Something that surprises me, Arkane are radio silent and haven’t commented on the release at all as far as I can see.

Yeah, been thinking about that as well. Would anyone from MS/Bethesda/Arkane have said anything if Phil hadn't already been doing that interview? Something smells off about the whole thing.

 

[Darujhistan]

TBF, a lot of us were worried about Starfield before the Redfall debacle.

It looked like **** to me.

 

[Darujhistan]

Something that surprises me, Arkane are radio silent and haven’t commented on the release at all as far as I can see.

I'm not surprised, they've got the bag, happy days!

 

[NZXT30]

I'm not surprised, they've got the bag, happy days!

What are you on about? The game completely tanked on steam and their reputation as a studio is now tarnished.

 

[MoNkeE]

Some people like to propagate the myth that studios are happy to churn out rubbish games just to make cash. Truth be told many B-studios can’t survive a poor release before going under, and while we look at the annual CoDs as being a basis for these ideologies, truth be told the CoD games are fundamentally good. They don’t push boundaries, but the core gameplay is reliably good, despite potentially poor releases.

But the notion that Arkane would be happy to chalk this up to “we pushed a half ready release but still made money” is ridiculous. Their future could well hang in the balance over the course of the next couple of months.

Also, I’ve no idea why people refer to Arkane as a AAA studio.

 

[Darujhistan]

What are you on about? The game completely tanked on steam and their reputation as a studio is now tarnished.

Money>Reputation.

If they cared about rep, they wouldn't release dog****.

 

[xaldub]

Some people like to propagate the myth that studios are happy to churn out rubbish games just to make cash. Truth be told many B-studios can’t survive a poor release before going under, and while we look at the annual CoDs as being a basis for these ideologies, truth be told the CoD games are fundamentally good. They don’t push boundaries, but the core gameplay is reliably good, despite potentially poor releases.

But the notion that Arkane would be happy to chalk this up to “we pushed a half ready release but still made money” is ridiculous. Their future could well hang in the balance over the course of the next couple of months.

Also, I’ve no idea why people refer to Arkane as a AAA studio.

A lot of what you’ve said rings true. But Arkane isn’t a small studio and they’re owned by Microsoft. There is zero chance they will go under as a consequence of this debacle. And they are considered a AAA developer on the basis of their previous games, and the budget they now command ( with Microsoft’s backing ).

 

[NZXT30]

Money>Reputation.

If they cared about rep, they wouldn't release dog****.

Their game completely flopped sales wise so what kind of money are you talking about?

 

[Darujhistan]

Their game completely flopped sales wise so what kind of money are you talking about?

Did they make money from the game or not?

 

[NZXT30]

Did they make money from the game or not?

Of course they didn't the game is a mega flop. Or do you mean did they get their monthly salaries?

Very unfortunate since their previous game Prey is one of my favourite ever.

Not sure what you're so happy about Arkane Austin is not some greedy lootbox gambling studio.

Latest rumour is Microsoft inherited the project and wanted out of the way so they can pull developers into Arkane's next ambitious project.

 

[ColdAsIce]

Of course they didn't the game is a mega flop. Or do you mean did they get their monthly salaries?

Very unfortunate since their previous game Prey is one of my favourite ever.

Not sure what you're so happy about Arkane Austin is not some greedy lootbox gambling studio.

Latest rumour is Microsoft inherited the project and wanted out of the way so they can pull developers into Arkane's next ambitious project.

The studio would have been guaranteed a return on investment for being tied in Xbox gamepass. Steam sales would have just been gravy on the top.

 

[NZXT30]

The studio would have been guaranteed a return on investment for being tied in Xbox gamepass. Steam sales would have just been gravy on the top.

Microsoft owns the studio and there is no way Redfall met their expectations. They got plenty of gamepass metrics such as installations, playtime, subscriptions growth etc.

The Xbox boss called Redfall disappointing. No bonuses will be paid, some layoffs will certainly follow if not gutting Arkane Austin entirely and merging it into the main Arkane studio.

 

[ColdAsIce]

Microsoft owns the studio and there is no way Redfall met their expectations. They got plenty of gamepass metrics such as installations, playtime, subscriptions growth etc.

The Xbox boss called Redfall disappointing. No bonuses will be paid, some layoffs will certainly follow if not gutting Arkane Austin entirely and merging it into the main Arkane studio.

I agree with you but there is no way they were relying on Steam sales alone to keep afloat. Otherwise we should have seen substantial pushback from the Arkane studio that the game wasn't ready. I'm betting they were told to get it shipped by M$. It's over a week since launch and no-one from the studio has spoken about the issues.

 

[ne0]

Colour me deluded then, but hopeful.

Honestly, I'm secretly hopeful too. In fact it's the only game I've been excited about for quite some time. But just look at the track record of AAA games already this year. I don't expect to buy it on release day.

 

[bazzabear]

There was a big patch today. Made any difference?

I pre-installed it on gamepass, but haven't even bothered loading it up after what I heard on here!

 

[jonneymendoza]

Maybe it will be another no mans sky ?

 

[Darujhistan]

Of course they didn't the game is a mega flop. Or do you mean did they get their monthly salaries?

Very unfortunate since their previous game Prey is one of my favourite ever.

Not sure what you're so happy about Arkane Austin is not some greedy lootbox gambling studio.

Latest rumour is Microsoft inherited the project and wanted out of the way so they can pull developers into Arkane's next ambitious project.

So all they gave away all those copies did they? some costing £100?

They took the bag, that's all there is to it.

 

[NZXT30]

Some clarity on what happened:

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. Veteran workers who weren’t interested in developing a multiplayer game left in droves.

The acquisition gave some staff at Arkane hope that Microsoft might cancel Redfall or, better yet, let them reboot it as a single-player game, according to sources familiar with the production. Instead, Microsoft maintained a hands-off approach. Aside from canceling a version of Redfall that had been planned for rival Sony Corp.’s PlayStation, Microsoft allowed ZeniMax to continue operating as it had before, with great autonomy.

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.

Inside the Making of Redfall, Xbox’s Latest Misfire

After Microsoft paid $7.5 billion for its parent company, Arkane Studios’ Redfall has been blasted by critics and players

www.bloomberg.com