Pete Hines, senior VP of global communications and marketing at Bethesda Softworks, has stated that the company has no plans to give up on Redfall, and that the game will become good down the line with updates bringing in improvements. The company hopes to raise the quality of the game to the same extent as it has other titles like The Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76.
“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,” said Hines to GamesIndustry.biz when talking about the rocky launch for Redfall. “The Elder Scrolls Online‘s PC launch was not flawless but we stuck with it. Now it’s like this insanely popular multiplatform. It’s the same with Fallout 76. 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,” he continued. “We’re going to do 60fps. We’re going to get it to be a good game because we know, as a first-party studio, Game Pass lives forever. There will be people ten years from now who are going to join Game Pass, and Redfall will be there.”
Hines also went on to talk about how the reception of Redfall might have added pressure on the studio when it comes to its work in developing the upcoming sci-fi RPG Starfield.
“As for pressure on Starfield? There’s always pressure with every launch,” said Hines. “The pressure is an external thing we keep an eye on, but we don’t allow it to be a focus because we have zero control over it. What can we control? We control the game. How good is it? How does it run? How fun is it? Well, then let’s do that, and everything else will sort itself out.”
Redfall has been far from a success for Arkane, Bethesda or Microsoft. The critically-panned shooter generated minimal sales, according to Microsoft. Response to the game was negative enough where Xbox boss Phil Spencer publicly apologized for the state of the game at launch.
While Arkane Studios has stated in the past that Redfall has been played by “millions” of players since its release, the number likely takes into account Game Pass subscribers, while also likely ignoring key details, like how much time players actually spent with the game rather than just playing it once and stopping.
Bethesda is currently gearing up for the release of one of the biggest games of the year—Starfield—which is coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S on September 6. For more details on the game, check out our review.