Microsoft has officially ended support for Redfall, with the closure of developer Arkane Austin, and the cancellation of the game’s upcoming DLC update. As revealed by IGN, Microsoft has chosen to shut down four Bethesda studios in a “reprioritisation” effort designed to overhaul business opportunities.
As part of this decision, Arkane Austin has been dismantled. While Redfall‘s game servers will remain live for the foreseeable future, there will be no further updates for the game, and planned DLC introducing new heroes will not be released.
“Redfall’s previous update will be its last as we end all development on the game,” Matt Booty, Head of Xbox Game Studios, said in an email to staff. “The game and its servers will remain online for players to enjoy and we will provide make-good offers to players who purchased the Hero DLC.”
At this stage, it’s unclear what Microsoft has planned as a “make-good” but Arkane has now provided a link for impacted players to share their details for when the elected remedy is prepared.
Read: Bethesda is committed to Redfall, despite negative reception
Notably, Bethesda and Arkane Austin had declared support for Redfall would continue beyond its release, despite overly negative reception for the game. In September 2023, Pete Hines, Head of Publishing at Bethesda, claimed that work would continue until the game met player expectations.
“We don’t like failing to meet our players’ expectations. At the same time, we are the same company that has had launches that didn’t go the way we wanted, and we don’t quit or abandon stuff just because it didn’t start right,” Hines said. “Redfall is no different for us. Okay, we didn’t get the start we wanted, but it’s still a fun game… and we’re going to keep working on it.”
Despite these declarations, work on Redfall has now officially ended, with all support ceasing.
Per IGN, the Arkane Austin team had actually been working on new updates and a roadmap of support up until Microsoft’s cuts. The expectation was that the planned DLC would eventually release, with work continuing to that effect, until the surprise announcement.
As IGN points out, the cancellation of new updates won’t just impact players looking forward to new DLC – it could actually lead to the complete shutdown of Redfall. Currently, the game is reliant on its online mode, even if you’re playing as a solo adventurer. Prior to launch, game director Harvey Smith had indicated the studio was working on an offline mode to “fix” the issue – but as IGN points out, this never materialised.
Servers for Redfall will remain online for now, but nothing lasts forever. Eventually, the game’s servers will shut – likely taking the entire game with them. Redfall had its critics on launch, but it’s certainly not a fate the game deserves.
