Arcane Austin was reportedly set to release a big Redfall update this month that would add offline play to always-online play before Microsoft suddenly shut down the studio. IGN. This follows yesterday’s news that Microsoft is shutting down Arcane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, Mighty Doom studio Alpha Dog Games and absorbing Roundhouse Games into Zenimax Online Studios.
This offline play update addresses one of players’ biggest complaints with the game — Redfall always requiring a connection to the Internet — but now that update will never see the light of day. This is a particularly concerning detail considering Arcane Austin is now closed, the day the Redfall servers are no longer live, making the game unplayable, closer than ever.
IGN reports that the now-cancelled Hero Pass, which added two additional playable characters to Redfall, was slated for release on Halloween. It obviously won’t be released now — Bethesda says those who bought the Hero Pass will be eligible to “receive the value of the upgrade” — but if it had hit the game around Halloween, that would have been roughly 18 months after Redfall’s launch.
Redfall Hits Xbox Series X/S and PC May 2nd to Poor Reviews from Critics – Read Game Informers Review here – and players alike, and the first-person multiplayer vampire shooter failed to recover, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said “I’m upset with myself” when asked about its launch.
According to reports, some of Arcane Austin’s staff are hoping that Microsoft may cancel Redfall or reboot it as a single-player game, following its acquisition of Zenimax Media for $7.5 billion in 2020. Arcane Austin director Harvey Smith said Microsoft canceled the PlayStation 5 version of Redfall after the acquisition.
(Source: IGN)
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