Arkane Austin has announced that it is working on one more update for Redfall before its doors are closed by Microsoft. Redfall never managed to gain much traction following its release last May. Player counts quickly plummeted to under 200 within two weeks of launch. As time went reports about poor sales and player engagement continued followed by attempts by Arkane to support the game with patches and new content.
Rumors circulated that its staff had hoped the game would be canceled, or at least rebooted as a single-player game during its development phase following Microsoft’s purchase of ZeniMax which included Bethesda and Arkane Austin. At one point Xbox CEO Phil Spencer expressed regret in the lack of support that was given to the developer. Eventually, one more nail in the coffin would get hammered in as Microsoft announced it would be closing Arkane Austin as part of a larger lay-off strategy that includes other studios. The developer has now announced it will still offer a final game update that looks to be a QoL update which will include an offline mode and other features.
Thank you for all your supportive messages.
— Redfall (@playRedfall) May 17, 2024
We are working to release our final update, Game Update 4, that brings revamped Neighborhood and Nest systems, Single Player Pausing, Offline Mode, and more.
We’ll provide additional details soon. Thank you all.
The Final Update
The offline mode is a bit of a surprise due to Redfall’s odd always-online requirement that also included its single-player content. The always-online requirement was, no doubt, yet one of many things that pushed potential players away from the game. Ironically, adding an offline mode now might cause a small surge in sales for the game but unfortunately fixing the barn door after the horses have fled is obviously too little, too late.
According to the final update announcement, new improvements will include a revamped Neighborhood and Nest system along with single-player pausing. The developer adds there will be other improvements as well. Despite its rocky launch and almost undead existence, Redfall appears to be getting one final breath of life from its developers.