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Redfall developer Arkane currently safe, Microsoft says

Xbox has no immediate plans to shutter Redfall developer Arkane, after the studio's latest launch failed to find much of a positive critical or commercial reception.

Speaking to Axios, Xbox Game Studios chief Matt Booty said Arkane would remain open. "That is the plan right now," he said.

"They are hard at work on updates and continued content for Redfall," Booty continued, saying he wanted to "support them to be able to keep working to deliver the game they had in mind".
Earlier this week, at a post-Xbox Game Showcase media event in Los Angeles attended by Eurogamer, Booty notably skipped over Redfall when suggesting Microsoft had "turned the corner" on first-party game releases.
"We had some gaps last year, but I think we've turned the corner coming into 2023," Booty said on Sunday. " feel very good about launching Hi-Fi Rush, we have Minecraft Legends out there which is doing well, we have Age of Empires continuing to come to console... and then as we saw today, this fall we have Forza Motorsport and Starfield."

So, how is Redfall doing now?

"It was a miss, but how much of a miss?" Booty concluded, adding it gets "good play" on Xbox Game Pass.

More at: https://www.eurogamer.net/redfall-developer-arkane-currently-safe-microsoft-says
 

cormack12

Gold Member
Fix It Fox Tv GIF by makinghistory


Also known as
 

Saber

Gold Member
So, how is Redfall doing now?

"It was a miss, but how much of a miss?" Booty concluded, adding it gets "good play" on Xbox Game Pass.

This sentence is more stupid than the whole safe stuff. Its like its ok to be a broken garbage mess as long its for GP.

The game can be saved, but only if they have the same dedication as No Man Sky for istance...but I got feeling it won't be the case.
 
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SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. I think Arkane is super talented but it also seems like a shake up is needed and Harvey Smith wasn't taking enough ownership of the vision
 
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Kill this trash named Redfall, with fire, and give them back fully funded AAA sequels to Dishonored 2 (post Death of the Outsider) and Prey.

Why the fuck would you fix a studio, that isn't broken, in the first place? It's like asking Platinum Games to make a live service GaaS, and you get Babylon's Fall. You can't make this shit up.

A studio like Arkane Austin being shut down by MS, would be of a bigger L than the PapEA meme. It would be an absolute shame.
 

Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
I would argue that it's not more than their competitors :)
they hate him for saying the truth.
Update: Also this triggers drganon drganon .
whoever is left there, anyway
Didn't half the building leave?
since most of the staff is gone. 🙃
In 2021, there were 150 across both Austin and Lyon. And now, its like 280. Even if we take Jason's word that now there are 100 people in Austin, it still means that studio grew from 2021 to 2023. "Only 100 people are left at Austin" sounds like most of the staff left, but they actually grew.
Currently 281 employees divided among Austin and Lyon.

Last I checked
In 2021
150 people in Arkane are divided among Lyon studio(Dishonored, Deathloop) and Austin Studio(Prey, new upcoming fantasy project).
In 2022
Arkane - ~200
Jason has a vendetta against this studio, when he writes shit like
and convincing some progressive or moderate video game developers to move to Texas could be difficult due to the state’s conservative social policies.
in that article.
 
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Godot25

Banned
Microsoft is not stupid (I hope). Outside of fact that thanks to Arkane Austin they have studio in one of the greatest location for game development on Earth.
Also, Arkane Austin has 16 new openings and without a hint of people leaving in droves after Redfall. So I guess that they are already starting brainstorming on their next project and Roundhouse will take care of Redfall's post-launch support.
At the absolute worst (but it would be still bad) I can imagine Zenimax "ordering" that Lyon and Austin will work on their next project together like with first Dishonored.
 

Flabagast

Member
That sounds MUCH more ominous for the future of the studio than if they had not say anything.

Arkane should have sold themselves to Sony. Wrong move
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
bUT wHAt AbOuT PLAysTatiOn!?

33vgqf.jpg
Yeah, people shouldn't be able to make comparisons about the aftermath of other bad launches to bring context to a discussion. It's not fair to talk about how any other studio has been shut down by any other company after a rough launch.

It's definitely not fair to bring up how Shawn Layden said of Evolution Studios: "I prefer people to have the ambition to try that, though. It's no fun being safe all the time." in an IGN interview after the rough launch of DriveClub only for Sony to ultimately close the studio after working hard to turn the game around. There's definitely no similarity there.
 

GHG

Member
Yeah, people shouldn't be able to make comparisons about the aftermath of other bad launches to bring context to a discussion. It's not fair to talk about how any other studio has been shut down by any other company after a rough launch.

It's definitely not fair to bring up how Shawn Layden said of Evolution Studios: "I prefer people to have the ambition to try that, though. It's no fun being safe all the time." in an IGN interview after the rough launch of DriveClub only for Sony to ultimately close the studio after working hard to turn the game around. There's definitely no similarity there.

If that's what you need to do to cope then have at it.

Still nothing to do with the topic at hand though.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
If that's what you need to do to cope then have at it.

Still nothing to do with the topic at hand though.
The topic at hand? Xbox game has a rough launch and someone at Microsoft says the studio is safe for now. People respond that they don't believe it because of what often happens in this situation. Someone responded with mockery when someone else mentions it happens with competitors, not even mentioning any specific one. So I provide an example of how the competitor they feel the need to protect has actually done it.

That's not cope, that's context. EA and Activision have also closed studios when games didn't go so well.

The cope was the huge meme shitpost, not my valid example of how this situation is not unique to Redfall. Companies often kill studios for bad games regardless of what public support they may show directly after launch. Instead of being dismissive show how it's wrong.
 
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Banjo64

cumsessed
Yeah, people shouldn't be able to make comparisons about the aftermath of other bad launches to bring context to a discussion. It's not fair to talk about how any other studio has been shut down by any other company after a rough launch.

It's definitely not fair to bring up how Shawn Layden said of Evolution Studios: "I prefer people to have the ambition to try that, though. It's no fun being safe all the time." in an IGN interview after the rough launch of DriveClub only for Sony to ultimately close the studio after working hard to turn the game around. There's definitely no similarity there.
bUT wHAt AbOuT PLAysTatiOn!?

33vgqf.jpg
 

oji-san

Banned
Wish Arkane the best as i love their games and hope that one not good game won't do too harm.
 
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HL3.exe

Member
Hope they're given another stab at doing a proper Immersive Sim like Prey (2017).

This pivoting to live service clearly backfired for Zenimax. Now under MS they hopefully have the room to develop something the leads real like and are well versed in (System Shock, Deus Ex, Thief, Dishonored, etc)

Edit: My hope for Redfall actually, is that they rework what they have, just like CDPR is doing now with Cyberpunk. If you have the assets in play, just re-edited the thing, re-evaluate every system and mechanic and reboot the launch. (As stupid as this industry is run sometimes)
 
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GHG

Member
The topic at hand? Xbox game has a rough launch and someone at Microsoft says the studio is safe for now. People respond that they don't believe it because of what often happens in this situation. Someone responded with mockery when someone else mentions it happens with competitors, not even mentioning any specific one. So I provide an example of how the competitor they feel the need to protect has actually done it.

That's not cope, that's context. EA and Activision have also closed studios when games didn't go so well.

The cope was the huge meme shitpost, not my valid example of how this situation is not unique to Redfall. Companies often kill studios for bad games regardless of what public support they may show directly after launch. Instead of being dismissive show how it's wrong.

Justifying SonyToo™ : the post
 

ZehDon

Gold Member
Fingers crossed Arkane delivers next time, then. Not every studio gets a second chance after such a monstrous failure - hopefully they don't squander it.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
70% of the teams that made this studio legendary already left anyway, so how much of a loss would axing Arkane really be at this point?
 

Puscifer

Member
"That is the plan right now"........that's quite the vote of confidence,lol.
I mean I thought the idea of Gamepass was eliminating the risk of game failures and keeping studios open to experiment? Guess sus subscriber numbers and a recession is changing that tone, seems bleak.
 

mdkirby

Member
Close them, don’t close them, I’m now indifferent to it (except it being sad when people lose jobs). There’s nothing left of what made arkane arkane it seems. Best we can hope is that the people that made them great carry that legacy with them to the new studios they go to or form. Weird west was interesting…I’d have preferred a first person immersive sim and it’s shame about the lack of voice acting (which resulted in me dropping it)…I’m interested in whatever they do next
 
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