Redfall Developer Explains Dynamic Difficulty Scaling

With Redfall, Arkane is taking on several new challenges that the studio has never been known for with any of its past games. Its open world setting is, of course, the headlining change, but just as crucial is the game’s focus on co-op gameplay. Though it will be playable solo from start to finish, Redfall is placing quite a bit of emphasis on up to 4-player co-op, and in a new Q&A published on the Bethesda website, Arkane has offered more details on how the game will handle difficulty scaling based on how many players are playing.

As per Arkane, Redfall will make use of dynamic difficulty scaling, which means there isn’t a “flat scale” that will push up some sliders based on how many players are playing together. How much progress you’ve made in the campaign (which is tied to the host player) will obviously determine the game’s difficulty, while on top of that, based on how many players are in a group together, other things will vary as well, such as what types of enemies you fight, how much of a threat they prose, how many of them have elite traits, and more- and none of these will be blanket changes.

“Difficulty scaling is dynamic in Redfall,” Arkane explains. “There are several factors being considered at all times. For solo play, you’re starting off with your campaign difficulty level, which scales as you progress through the campaign. For co-op, we’re considering your campaign progress and difficulty still, but also looking at the number of players. Depending on the size of your party, you’ll see changes in the sorts of enemies you encounter, how strong they are compared to solo, and the frequency of elite traits. Those aren’t blanket changes either. Some encounters are always going to be easier or harder than others and some may not change at all. But that’s the point, things should feel more challenging because you have more players, but it isn’t a flat multiplier by any means.”

Redfall is due out for Xbox Series X/S and PC on May 2.