From Promise to Disappointment: The Unfolding Story of MICROSOFT’S Redfall

Few games ever showcase the thrill of promise, the anticipation and the resulting disappointment that comes from a game such as Redfall, the stars of which are the tech behemoth MICROSOFT and its decision to shut down the studio that made the acclaimed game, Arkane Austin. Know they could have been something great.

The Unanticipated Closure of Arkane Austin

But days before the industry descends on Los Angeles for its annual E3 extravaganza, when most game developers and publishers were getting excited for the long-promised Redfall update that brought offline functionality to a game that had to be connected to the internet at all times, MICROSOFT announced that it would be shutting down Arkane Austin. Few people saw the resultant chaos coming.

The Promised Update That Never Came

If things had turned out exactly as planned, she’d have been looking at an update that would have freed Redfall of its most controversial feature, its always-online requirement; a requirement that had irked many of its existing players. This update wasn’t about appeasing those players – it was about securing the game’s future. Without it, Redfall would likely become unplayable if its supporting servers were to ever be shut down. Eventually, she was able to update the game again. This time, everything seemed to work perfectly.

A Series of Unfulfilled Promises

In the wake of the shutdown announcement, the Redfall X/Twitter feed posted: ‘Though there will be no more updates … The servers will remain online for players to experience.’ In light of Redfall’s recent baggage, this provides us with no reassurance at all.

The Abandoned Hero Pass Content

All of this dust that’s now hitting fans is compounded by news about the Hero Pass content, part of the aforementioned Bite Back Edition, which had been labelled ‘Work-in-Progress’ and was set for a post-launch release around Halloween this year. That has now been cancelled too, although MICROSOFT has suggested that there will be some compensation for buy-in to the otherwise cancelled work-in-progress content, although the exact form of compensation is not yet clear.

The Wider Impact of MICROSOFT’s Studio Closures

The shuttering of Arkane Austin is a piece of a large puzzle, one emblematic of a larger problem MICROSOFT has faced of late. In addition to Layoff Friday, MICROSOFT announced the closure of four other studios in recent weeks: Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, MICROSOFT’s third-party Santa Monica studio, VR dev That Game Company, and mobile studio Alpha Dog Games. The Australian studio known as Roundhouse Studios is also merging with ZeniMax Online Studios, making broader revisions to where many developers fall and leaving gamers to ponder what might be next for their favorite games.

The Uncertain Future for Affected Staff

What the final impact on staff will be from these closures is hard to say but hopefully everyone will land on their feet somewhere else. We’ll have to wait and see as the rest of the industry waits for more information – as of this writing, requests for comment both from MICROSOFT and Bethesda have not received a response.

In Conclusion: The Irony of Promise

Oxy-moronic twist that all the news and talk about Redfall weeks ago revolved around it developing into a ‘good game’. But in the wake of the game’s halt in development and the increasing likelihood that we will not see it for a long time, if ever, gamers can only wonder more than ever what might have been.

Understanding MICROSOFT

MICROSOFT is a massive technical corporation with deep and longstanding interests in gaming, already a global phenomenon with its Xbox console and the scores of games it’s published over the years. It is a decision with ripple effects throughout this virtual ocean. Those ripple effects are not confined to the MICROSOFT-owned studios that are left grappling with the outcome of the call.

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It is companies such as MICROSOFT that help define current and future notions of what gaming and technology should and can deliver to millions of people – both by what they get right, what they get wrong, and everything in between. As for Redfall, we’ll just have to wait and see if it’s remembered as something long forgotten or if it will be thought of as an example of a game that could have been great, but ultimately didn’t manage to.