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[ShadowkillXNA]

However, there is now fresh concern that the always-online Redfall could become unplayable if and when Microsoft shuts its servers off. In March last year, ahead of Redfall's release, Arkane Austin said it was working on a fix that would reverse Redfall's always-online requirement, an aspect that was met with backlash when first announced.

In an interview with Eurogamer, game director Harvey Smith said: "We listen. And we have already started work to address this in the future. We have to do some things like encrypt your save games and do a bunch of UI work to support it. And so we are looking into — I'm not supposed to promise anything — but we're looking into and working actively toward fixing that in the future."
Click to shrink...

However, the offline mode failed to materialize. IGN understands Redfall's May update would have added the ability to play offline, which in turn would have helped with keeping the game alive in the future. Unfortunately for players, it will never see the light of day.

Arkane Austin Was Working on a Big Redfall Update for May Before Microsoft Ditched the Game and Closed the Studio - IGN

The now abandoned Redfall had a roadmap of support that was being actively worked on before Microsoft scrapped all development and closed its developer, IGN can reveal.

www.ign.com

So Arkane Austin was about to release an update that would have given Redfall an offline mode, something that they said a year ago they were working on.
And Microsoft won't even allow them to do that.

What do all the people who were calling Microsoft pro-consumer the last few years, all the people who said they would buy games on xbox because Microsoft "is the safest place to build a digital library because they care so much" think about this?

Get in here and tell us about how they're oh so pro-consumer and how they're the only ones who care about our digital gaming libraries.

 

[adamsapple]

Maybe if they had announced or tweeted it out instead of doing a surprise drop, they'd have been allowed the time to finish it.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

Yeah, sure ... the old 'next week'.

 

[Ashamam]

Maybe if they had announced or tweeted it out instead of doing a surprise drop, they'd have been allowed the time to finish it.

Gotcha, its clearly their fault. /s

 

[Oppoi]

Why does it smell like corporate cocksucker in here?

 

[dreamstation]

Maybe if they had announced or tweeted it out instead of doing a surprise drop, they'd have been allowed the time to finish it.

I'm sure it wasn't a surprise to Microsoft though. Surely they were aware of them working on it.

 

[adamsapple]

Gotcha, its clearly their fault.

Kinda.

Suicide Squad's team announced that they'll put out an Offline mode patch a week after the game came out, and they haven't even put a date on when to expect that patch. But at least it's something in the open and expected of the devs now.

I'm sure it wasn't a surprise to Microsoft though. Surely they were aware of them working on it.

I'm sure they were but if it were public knowledge, at least there would be pressure to release the announced update.

If the update was scheduled to come out in May, it must be pretty far along, almost done even. They should still try to release it as they're still keeping Arkane people around and putting them in other teams.

 

[T4keD0wN]

Kinda.

Suicide Squad's team announced that they'll put out an Offline mode patch a week after the game came out, and they haven't even put a date on when to expect that patch. But at least it's something in the open and expected of the devs now.



I'm sure they were but if it were public knowledge, at least there would be pressure to release the announced update.

If the update was scheduled to come out in May, it must be pretty far along, almost done even. They should still try to release it as they're still keeping Arkane people around and putting them in other teams.

Theyve publicly put out and even sold dlcs, they will never materialize. It would be the same case with offline mode.

 

[Gambit2483]

Maybe if they had announced or tweeted it out instead of doing a surprise drop, they'd have been allowed the time to finish it.

Nah...if they wanted offline mode they could have done it long ago. No one at Arkane (really) gave a shit about this game long ago.

 

[Rockman33]

After everyone unanimously shit on this game over and over again. Don’t act like you care about a offline mode.

 

[user friendly]

Maybe if they had announced or tweeted it out instead of doing a surprise drop, they'd have been allowed the time to finish it.

Allowed time to finish? Dang dude.

 

[adamsapple]

Theyve publicly put out and even sold dlcs, they will never materialize. It would be the same case with offline mode.

True.

But the article says the update was scheduled to come out some time this month. It's gotta have been done and just going through QC at this point, right?

After everyone unanimously shit on this game over and over again. Don’t act like you care about a offline mode.

I wouldn't have minded it, keep the game on a cold storage drive for future reference.

 

[Gaiff]

Letting Redfall die, be buried and forgotten sounds like a pro-consumer move to me.

 

[Ceadeus]

They used to be so good during the 360 days. How they manage to fuck it up that bad after that huge success is beyond comprehension.

When Xbox is strong, the whole industry is so much more fun and diverse.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

When Xbox is strong, the whole industry is so much more fun and diverse.

That is when the troubles started to arise for game development.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

They used to be so good during the 360 days. How they manage to fuck it up that bad after that huge success is beyond comprehension.

When Xbox is strong, the whole industry is so much more fun and diverse.

They have non of the identity of the 360 days. They're basically just a shitty PC now. They could drop out tomorrow and the games industry would be just fine. It would probably be better off.

 

[Ceadeus]

That is when the troubles started to arise for game development.

I was thinking about the Xbox 360. Game development seemed at its best during this time ain't am right?

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

After everyone unanimously shit on this game over and over again. Don’t act like you care about a offline mode.

You know if they had stayed open and released it the same people would have been 'lol why bother, no one gives a shit'

 

[R3TRODYCE]

Not even offline would help Redfall.

 

[Gambit2483]

Letting Redfall die, be buried and forgotten sounds like a pro-consumer move to me.

Nah, the game preservationists in me can't agree. Even bad games deserve to live.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I was thinking about the Xbox 360.

yep. so do i

Game development seemed at its best during this time ain't am right?

no, and yes.

remember how hard it was for Japanese dev/publishers to adapt to the new game development philosophy of building games thanks to a game engine that gets upgraded (instead of building an engine every time a game is made). that's one of the reasons Capcom and Konami established/partnered with western studios.

The jump to "HD" didn't help with budgets, also through that generation, we started to see the way the industry was headed (Focus on established IPs, make fewer games and MTXs (rise of pre-order bonuses...)

When Xbox is strong, the whole industry is so much more fun and diverse.

the lack of a strong Japanese gaming industry really hurt the industry. Ass Creed became the blueprint for a lot of games.

 

[jshackles]

This game is cursed

 

[bender]

After everyone unanimously shit on this game over and over again. Don’t act like you care about a offline mode.

Yeah! Fuck game preservation!

 

[WoJ]

I'm sure Phil's response to this will be "we have to do better. We hear you and we're listening."

 

[Grechy34]

Arkane Austin Was Working on a Big Redfall Update for May Before Microsoft Ditched the Game and Closed the Studio - IGN

The now abandoned Redfall had a roadmap of support that was being actively worked on before Microsoft scrapped all development and closed its developer, IGN can reveal.

www.ign.com

So Arkane Austin was about to release an update that would have given Redfall an offline mode, something that they said a year ago they were working on.
And Microsoft won't even allow them to do that.

What do all the people who were calling Microsoft pro-consumer the last few years, all the people who said they would buy games on xbox because Microsoft "is the safest place to build a digital library because they care so much" think about this?

Get in here and tell us about how they're oh so pro-consumer and how they're the only ones who care about our digital gaming libraries.

I don't necessarily agree with anything Microsoft has done here but let's not pretend this studio deserved any grace for Redfall which was widely considered a disaster.

 

[TransTrender]

Absolutely no excuse as to why it took over a year to get to this point and then over 18 months from launch for some shitty DLC characters.
This reeks of incompetence and mismanagement.

 

[Not_A-Cop_Maybe]

You know if they had stayed open and released it the same people would have been 'lol why bother, no one gives a shit'

Exactly.

Look. layoffs suck. They happen in several industries across the board. This game came out a year ago, and as a live service game didn't even have:
a) the user presence to make updates and content worth while.
b) clearly changed the scope of their post release schedule from probably content to fixing support.
c) clearly run by an inffective management at this studio location.

There's been a lot a shit talk and jokes about how MS run their studios and teams and how they are not doing a good job or not effectively stepping in when quality, sales, content or the organization suffers.

This is them doing all those things.
Redfall has become a meme at this point, and its prob easier to justify cutting the cord with trying to fix something to become something it wasnt (live service game to offline game). Also, bear in mind that this game was in development long before the MS bought Bethesda in 2021.

-Does it suck that people on the lower end of the totem pole have suffered due to someone higher up? - Yes- this is the same with any industry you work in. Every job is like this, even if you work fast food and retail, shitty bosses always fuck things up for the people below them. Its shitty but clearly this studio wasnt able to meet some metric that MS wanted, whether it was quality, output or just financial resources for a game thats pretty much lost all its users suck. Could they have come back from this? Maybe, but maybe its more cost effective or effective in general to shift people to other areas of the org and move on.

- Is closing down a stuido like Arkane Austin the right call? - idk, but clearly in the year their last game came out, they have been unable to improve the game in any sort of relevant way. Did their last update even do anything to move the scale for more users? - Doesn't even look like it registered, going just of steam active players.

It seems like some people will keep their jobs by relocation or being absorbed to other parts of the org. Hope thats the case for many of these people and the people who made those shit choices carry a stain on their resume.

 

[gothmog]

Well it's a week into May and it would need to go through certification so how real is this? Smells like bullshit.

 

[LordBlodgett]

Xbox has gone from being consumer friendly with their backwards compatibility and Game pass to not giving a fuck really fast......... definitely pushing me away pretty fucking fast

 

[fallingdove]

Maybe if they had announced or tweeted it out instead of doing a surprise drop, they'd have been allowed the time to finish it.

Microsoft incapable of gauging interest or managing a project if there isn’t a tweet about it — sounds about right.

 

[Kacho]

Maybe if they had announced or tweeted it out instead of doing a surprise drop, they'd have been allowed the time to finish it.

Yes. Truly.

 

[Mortisfacio]

The game was terrible online with friends to talk crap with, imagine how much worse it would be to play solo offline.

 

[Mister Wolf]

 

[skyfinch]

I'll wait for the PS5 version with offline mode included day 1.

 

[KXVXII9X]

This is one reason I don't like to bother with Live Service games. Not that this game was even appealing to begin with. I don't know why people are eager to play these games when you aren't even guaranteed you will even get to play over a year. Unfortunately, closing of Arkane doesn't surprise me, but it sucks to see more and more studios closing. Phil Spencer did a poor job managing Xbox. I wish more people saw that in the beginning of this generation instead of the cultlike praise.

 

[poppabk]

They couldn't make two hero characters in an entire year. I'm not believing this was just about to drop.

 

[KXVXII9X]

I'm sure Phil's response to this will be "we have to do better. We hear you and we're listening."

Has the same energy as "Thoughts and prayers."

 

[ShadowkillXNA]

I don't necessarily agree with anything Microsoft has done here but let's not pretend this studio deserved any grace for Redfall which was widely considered a disaster.

No doubt the game was a disaster. That isnt the point.
They were about to give it an offline mode, which people complained about before the game launched.
It would have been good for fans of the game.

 

[Not_A-Cop_Maybe]

No doubt the game was a disaster. That isnt the point.
They were about to give it an offline mode, which people complained about before the game launched.
It would have been good for fans of the game.

for all what 5 of them?

The game was circling the drain 3 months into its release. and whats worse, is that it took nearly a year to provide any actual update to the game. They should have prioritized adding content and fixing major bugs instead of fixing everything non content related. Who was going to wait over a year for additional characters and the maybe promise of an offline mode.

Sucks for the studio location closing and the people involved but the game has been on its last legs for ages, and dressing up a turd like this to be played offline was not going to bring more people to the game or generate any money- because lets face it at the end of the day- its always about money.

 

[violence]

Redfall shows us why games are canceled.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

I didn’t even realize Redfall was online only. Or maybe I knew and forgot, like I forgot everything else about that game.

MS gave them more time to try and make a better game, they should have just given it the Scalebound treatment. Maybe the studio would still be alive.

Another in a long line of recent fuck ups by Xbox management.

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

Online check required yes/no?
No

That took them over a year to do and people wonder why they were shut down?

 

[ZehDon]

Arkane released an unmitigated disaster of a game and were allowed a year to fix it. Apart from some minor fixes, the game remains largely where it was. Not sure one week was gonna make the difference here...

 

[ResilientBanana]

Arkane Austin Was Working on a Big Redfall Update for May Before Microsoft Ditched the Game and Closed the Studio - IGN

The now abandoned Redfall had a roadmap of support that was being actively worked on before Microsoft scrapped all development and closed its developer, IGN can reveal.

www.ign.com

So Arkane Austin was about to release an update that would have given Redfall an offline mode, something that they said a year ago they were working on.
And Microsoft won't even allow them to do that.

What do all the people who were calling Microsoft pro-consumer the last few years, all the people who said they would buy games on xbox because Microsoft "is the safest place to build a digital library because they care so much" think about this?

Get in here and tell us about how they're oh so pro-consumer and how they're the only ones who care about our digital gaming libraries.

To be fair, they’ve been fairly pro-consumer and affordable. I wouldn’t say that was the issue. This is shady as fuck though. The problem is, they have the sales numbers and the game sucks, so why keep it alive? Just refund that mistake and never look back.

 

[baphomet]

The year they spent working on an offline mode should have been used to fix the busted ass game.

 

[Ceadeus]

yep. so do i

no, and yes.

remember how hard it was for Japanese dev/publishers to adapt to the new game development philosophy of building games thanks to a game engine that gets upgraded (instead of building an engine every time a game is made). that's one of the reasons Capcom and Konami established/partnered with western studios.

The jump to "HD" didn't help with budgets, also through that generation, we started to see the way the industry was headed (Focus on established IPs, make fewer games and MTXs (rise of pre-order bonuses...)


the lack of a strong Japanese gaming industry really hurt the industry. Ass Creed became the blueprint for a lot of games.

To my eyes, I feel like they had couple years to adapt to that inevitable HD shift. Also, it took half the 7th generation for consumers to finally get their hands on an HDTV. The transition took years and I feel like it was soft enough. You could still play in SD.

I did not know about Capcom and Konami partnerships to western studios. But I don't see anything bad about it either. Dead Rising released in such a perfect timing, it's exactly the type of game the 360 needed at that point. Then you say HD transition didn't help with budgets, established IP's and MTX. It's surely where it started. Live services were more capable than the previous generation. At the beginning I remember XBLA games couldn't be larger than 1GB?

Again, developers had years to adapt to the HD change. It's not like it was a surprise either. Then, we've seen many new IP's but also yeah, the continuity of many established one. MTX mostly were gamer pictures and later avatar accessories. Couple of in games item? I remember Modern Warfare DLC to be expensive.

Man, my English is bad tonight I might edit tomorrow. You're definitely right that it's at that gen that it all started but it was so inevitable. Powerful consoles + better live services. Almost everyone had internet at home. It was only a matter of time that corporations took advantage of it all.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

The year they spent working on an offline mode should have been used to fix the busted ass game.

Like the people who churned out that pice of shit had the talent or the drive to fix it post-launch. They were lucky they got another 12 months of salaries.

 

[baphomet]

Like the people who churned out that pice of shit had the talent or the drive to fix it post-launch. They were lucky they got another 12 months of salaries.

That's very true, but doing literally anything would have been better than what they did.

 

[Shadax the wizard]

Forget Redfall, geez. They made PREY for Allah’s sake!

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

To my eyes, I feel like they had couple years to adapt to that inevitable HD shift. Also, it took half the 7th generation for consumers to finally get their hands on an HDTV. The transition took years and I feel like it was soft enough. You could still play in SD.

I did not know about Capcom and Konami partnerships to western studios. But I don't see anything bad about it either. Dead Rising released in such a perfect timing, it's exactly the type of game the 360 needed at that point. Then you say HD transition didn't help with budgets, established IP's and MTX. It's surely where it started. Live services were more capable than the previous generation. At the beginning I remember XBLA games couldn't be larger than 1GB?

Again, developers had years to adapt to the HD change. It's not like it was a surprise either. Then, we've seen many new IP's but also yeah, the continuity of many established one. MTX mostly were gamer pictures and later avatar accessories. Couple of in games item? I remember Modern Warfare DLC to be expensive.

Man, my English is bad tonight I might edit tomorrow. You're definitely right that it's at that gen that it all started but it was so inevitable. Powerful consoles + better live services. Almost everyone had internet at home. It was only a matter of time that corporations took advantage of it all.

yeah. I'm not saying it wasn't inevitable, what I'm just saying is that the industry was starting to show signs that something wasn't quite working.

I think the PS2 generation was the sweet spot between budget, production times and quality.