Xbox CEO Phil Spencer has addressed the disastrous launch of Redfall. The first-person, vampire-centric shooter from Arkane Studios was one of the first major Xbox and PC exclusive releases following Microsoft's $7.5 billion acquisition of Bethesda in 2021, but has been widely criticized upon launch for its many bugs and appearing to be in a generally unpolished state.Tom Warren shared a clip on Twitter from Spencer's interview with Kinda Funny Games (via YouTube) in which Spencer stated that he was "disappointed" in Redfall's launch.
Spencer went on to claim full responsibility for the game's state and promised that Microsoft will "learn" from Redfall and "get better" by revisiting its development processes going forward.
Would A Longer Delay Have Saved Redfall?
Delays are commonplace in AAA gaming, with other Xbox exclusives such as the Bethesda space RPG Starfield having been delayed several times and currently targeting a September 6, 2023 release date. Therefore, it's become a question as to why Microsoft would let Arkane release Redfall in its current state rather than delaying it to give it the polish it clearly needed, especially seeing as Redfall had already been delayed out of 2022.
Spencer claimed that the delays for Halo Infinite and the aforementioned Starfield were more due to the production timeline of those games, and getting the teams to the completion of their creative visions. He elaborated on when Xbox would delay a title, stating that Microsoft will also delay if a game "has more bugs than it should have," which upon launch was clearly the case with Redfall. He then concluded that, "at some point, we have to have a creative vision and put the game out, and reviewers and players will tell us what they think."
Redfall Didn't Realize Arkane's Creative Vision
Spencer hasn't looked at the review scores for Redfall, although he's aware of the animation, streaming of texture, and AI bugs, which are actively being worked on. The main reason he seems disappointed is because "the game isn't realizing the creative vision it had for its players." According to Spencer, this isn't something that could have been fixed by a simple delay as players simply aren't feeling the creative execution of the team, and he believes the team didn't hit its own internal goals when Redfall launched.
Particularly when considering Arkane's successful track record with games such as Dishonored and Prey, the disappointment surrounding Redfall is understandable, and Spencer is clearly aware of how the Xbox community has been let down. Although bug fixes seem to be on their way, with the problems surrounding the game's creative vision, it could take more than some patch fixes to resuscitate Redfall.
Sources: Tom Warren/Twitter, Kinda Funny Games/YouTube
