New details of Redfall development emerge - project participants asked Microsoft to cancel or restart it

A recent Bloomberg report sheds light on the circumstances surrounding the failed release of Redfall last month. According to the report, the development of the game was hampered by a lack of clear direction, high staff turnover, and insufficient resources for what was described as a AAA game.

Here's What We Know

Overall, the report sheds a lot of interesting details on the game's development path. According to the sources, Redfall development started in 2018 as a "multiplayer game" and even then, many project participants felt confused about the concept and doubted whether Arkane Studios' characteristic gameplay would be suitable for a multiplayer game.

It is also mentioned that the development team was constantly faced with a shortage of staff, as Arkane's Austin office employed less than 100 people, and Bethseda did not provide the necessary outsourcing support. And over time, the number of experienced developers decreased even further, as some simply did not want to work on a multiplayer project. Sources say that a quarter of all developers who worked on Prey in 2017 left.

Additionally, it is noted that Arkane had problems with finding new employees due to lower salaries compared to the average level in the industry, as well as due to the location in Texas.

Nevertheless, as Xbox boss Phill Spencer admitted in a recent interview, Microsoft has taken something of a hands-off approach to Bethesda's game development studios.

"We didn't do a very good job early on bringing Arkane Austin in to really help them understand what it meant to be part of Xbox and part of the first party and use some of our internal resources to even help them get through that journey faster. We left them to work on the game... they're a very talented team - I love that team, and I still do, and I'm betting they're going to make another great game."

Well, it looks like that approach didn't work...

Source: VGC