The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2021–2024
Redfall: the Xbox exclusive that got its studio — Arkane Austin — shut down
Microsoft's Bethesda bet produced Redfall — 'minimal sales', 53 on Metacritic — and in May 2024 Microsoft closed Arkane Austin, the studio that made it.
Microsoft · 2024-05-07
What happened
Redfall — a co-op vampire shooter from Arkane Austin, the studio behind Prey and Dishonored — was Microsoft's marquee Xbox exclusive for 2023, released May 2 by Bethesda Softworks. It was the first big test of Microsoft's $69 billion Bethesda acquisition.
It launched to a 53 on Metacritic for PC, was mocked for its broken AI and dated design, and Microsoft later admitted it had generated 'minimal sales'. Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, publicly apologized for the launch and promised to keep working on the game.
On May 7, 2024, Microsoft ended all development on Redfall and closed Arkane Austin outright — alongside Tango Gameworks and Alpha Dog Studios. Matt Booty's email to staff called the closure part of 'devastating cuts at Bethesda'. The studio that had earned Xbox its best critical reputation was shut down because of the game it was ordered to make.
Why it happened
- The game was a genre the studio never chose: Arkane's genius was immersive single-player simulation, and Redfall forced a co-op looter-shooter structure onto it.
- The launch was incomplete and the studio was told to ship: Redfall's broken state at release made the 'minimal sales' inevitable, and a game that fails in its first week has no second chance.
- Microsoft's $69B acquisition raised the stakes without changing the plan: a flagship exclusive that shipped broken cost the platform its credibility.
The lesson
Ordering a genre from a studio kills the studio: Arkane Austin made immersive sims better than anyone, was ordered to make a co-op looter-shooter, shipped a 53, and Microsoft closed it.
Sources
- IGN — Microsoft Abandons Redfall and Cancels DLC After Shutting Developer Arkane Austin Down
- Wikipedia — Redfall
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