While he noted that companies often tend to make decisions that are disagreed upon by those working under these decisions, he was especially surprised at the closure of Arkane Austin, since it had worked on critically-acclaimed titles like Dishonored alongside Arkane Lyon, as well as Prey.

“Every company makes the decisions they make for the reason they make them,” Smith said. “I don’t agree with them often, but the main shock there was this studio made Dishonored, along with the Lyon studio, and then they made Prey. Then we were working on Redfall during the pandemic and everything else. The industry [was] exploring games-as-a-service games. It is what it is. Creative efforts are unpredictable.”

As for the game that likely played a major role in the studio’s closure—Redfall—Smith spoke about being in a privileged position that has allowed him to have a long and storied career in the gaming industry. He also took personal responsibility for some of the issues that Arkane Austin faced during the development of Redfall. When it comes to his own privilege, he also spoke about how the industry has been losing many veterans that have decided to move on from gaming, with resumes becoming shorter and shorter. Arkane Austin itself, he noted, had team members that had just kicked off their game industry careers.

“I’m that rare person who has no complaints, but that’s a little bit of survivorship bias because things have worked out for me,” he said. “Even when they haven’t, I can look on a long track now and be like ‘Yes, there was a low point here, but look at this high point over here. This is incredible.’ If you have that luxury to look back on a bunch of highs and lows, it contextualizes things.”

The closure of Arkane Austin, as well as other studios under the Xbox Game Studios banner including Tango Gameworks, came as quite a surprise when it happened back in May 2024. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer had referred to the closure of these studios as “hard decisions” that were made for the sake of “sustainable business”.

“In the end, I’ve said over and over, I have to run a sustainable business inside the company and grow, and that means sometimes I have to make hard decisions that frankly are not decisions I love, but decisions that somebody needs to go make,” he said back in June 2024. “We will continue to go forward. We will continue to invest in what we’re trying to go do in Xbox and build the best business we can, which ensures we can continue to do shows like the one we just did.”

LAIR

An obvious pick for a list such as this one, Lair is forever going to hold the dubious crown of being one of the most bitter disappointments in gaming. Factor 5’s excellent track record and promising pre-launch showings suggested that Lair was going to be a huge early PS3 hit, but upon its release, the game turned out to be sort of a broken mess, thanks in large part to its frustrating motion-heavy controls. Even now, close to two decades later, it’s hard to get over the disappointment that was Lair.

While some pointed at the failure of Redfall as the reason for the latter’s closure, former Arkane president and founder Raphael Colantino still feels it was “not a good decision.”

“I think if you look a little bit, it’s obvious that Arkane Austin was a very special group that made some cool things and could pull it off again. I think it was a decision that came down to, ‘We need to cut something.’ Was it to please the investors, the stock market? They’re playing a different game,” said Colantino to PC Gamer.

Having left Arkane in 2017 and established WolfEye Studios, which released Weird West in 2022 (and is seemingly working on a new sci-fi RPG), Colantino says it’s “hard to know” why Microsoft shut down the studio. “The rules that they play, we might not understand them. It’s a different thing. It’s hard to know why they did what they did. The only thing that I stand by is saying that the specific choice of killing Arkane Austin was not a good decision.”

He also feels that recreating the studio’s magic will be impossible. “Recreating a very special group like that is, I would dare to say, impossible. It takes forever. When you have that magic of Harvey [Smith] and Ricardo [Bare] etc, that all come together, it’s a specific moment in time and space that just worked out this way, that took forever to reach. Those people together can really make magic.

“It’s not like, ‘Doesn’t matter, we’ll just rehire.’ No, try it. That’s what big groups do all the time. They try to just hire massively and overpay people to create those magic groups. It doesn’t work like this. So, to me, that was stupid. But what do I know?”

Though Arkane Austin is gone, Tango Gameworks was saved by Krafton, which acquired it and the Hi-Fi Rush IP from Microsoft. The publisher has since hyped Hi-Fi Rush 2 as somewhat of an open-world experience with more “dynamic” environments. Work paused on the sequel due to Tango’s closure, but it will resume “soon.” Stay tuned for updates in the meantime.

SHELLSHOCK 2: BLOOD TRAILS

Shellshock 2: Blood Trails is maybe not completely without its redeeming qualities, such as its genuinely creepy atmosphere, but it is, at the same time, also a classic case of a game that is as unfun to play as it is conceptually interesting. Broken shooting mechanics and AI, terrible level design, frustrating controls, you name it- the game was riddled with issues that made it an absolute nightmare to play.

DUKE NUKEM FOREVER

Few games deserve a spot on such lists as much as Duke Nukem Forever do. After spending an interminably long time in development hell and changing developers more times than anyone could keep track of, the long-in-development FPS was brought to market by Gearbox, and it. Was. Awful. As broken and bland in its design as it was dated and abrasive with its writing, with a host of technical issues to boot, Duke Nukem Forever was an unmitigated disaster.

XIII (2020)

The original XIII, back when it first came out, may not have been special by any means, but it certainly didn’t deserve a remake as horrific as the one it got in 2020, which may truly be one of the worst games ever made. 2020’s XIII may have had some cool visual flourishes, but from a mess of technical issues to braindead enemy AI to painfully dull shooting to so, so much more, it was an atrocious time. A major overhaul in 2022 did sand out many of its rough edges, but it’s still a tough game to recommend.

MEDAL OF HONOR: UNDERGROUND (GBA)

We understand that Medal of Honor: Underground came at a time when it was common to see completely different versions of the same game for different platforms- but why the hell would you try to develop an actual first-person shooter for the Game Boy Advance? Unsurprisingly, it did not go well. Medal of Honor: Underground looked awful and was frustratingly limited in the gameplay department in ways that an FPS just cannot afford. Other than as a curious novelty (that stinks like week-old socks), there is no reason for this version of this game to exist.

ALIENS: COLONIAL MARINES

Everything about this game was an absolute dumpster fire. Gearbox and Sega made huge promises in the lead-up to Aliens: Colonial Marines’ launch, but the game itself fell spectacularly short in so many ways. Game-breaking AI issues, crippling technical problems (including a huge visual downgrade), and more combined in an experience that failed to satisfy in any real way. Hell, so bad was Colonial Marines that Sega and Gearbox literally got dragged into court over claims of false advertisement.

ROBOCOP (2003)

Coming after an unusually long development cycle of four years (for the time, at least), Titus Interactive’s RoboCop arrived in 2003 on the back of the promise of an authentic FPS based on the beloved sci-fi property, and roundly failed to deliver on that promise even the teensiest bit. Terrible licensed games were far from a rarity in those days, and given how repetitive, generic, and painfully dull it was, it was no surprise to see RoboCop join that list.

REDFALL

Until not too long ago, it would have been impossible to imagine that the studio behind the original Dishonored and 2017’s Prey would end up delivering one o the worst shooters ever made, but the sad and indisputable fact is that Redfall is that bad. Broken, buggy, and uninspired, it exhibits none of the ingenious design that Arkane is typically known for, all in favour of a co-op looter shooter structure that it also doesn’t do any sort of justice to. On top of ending support for Redfall and cancelling its DLC plans, parent company Microsoft also went on to entirely shutter Arkane Austin, which shall always be this game’s unfortunate and tragic legacy.

BATTLE: LOS ANGELES

Coming back to poorly received licensed games, here’s one that you may not even remember ever existed- which would be a blessing in disguise, because boy is this an awful game. Battle: Los Angeles launched in 2011 and was just as bland and forgettable as the movie it was based on. A shockingly short campaign that lasted under an hour and painfully dull level design and gunplay were just a few of its many glaring issues.

THE WALKING DEAD: SURVIVAL INSTINCT

The Walking Dead as an IP has had its ups and downs in gaming. Survival Instinct definitely falls in the latter category, and may even be so bad that it’s its flag-bearer. Focusing on the Dixon brothers, The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct made thin promises of being a genuinely well-made game, before being roundly criticized by one and all upon launch for being a disappointingly shallow and broken experience, to the point of being downright unplayable.

GOLDENEYE: ROGUE AGENT

Rogue Agent was literally announced with the working title GoldenEye 2 back in the day, but the actual game couldn’t have fallen further from those implied heights. Though it hid some fleeting moments of fun in its innards, there was by and large just too much else that dragged the game down, including uninspired levels, lackluster gunplay, and a nonsensical story that was almost hostile in its disrespect for James Bond canon.

007 LEGENDS

We’ll stick with the man with the license to kill a tad longer, because we can’t really talk about bad Bond games and not mention 007 Legends, which may even be one of the worst games ever made, period. Conceptually, its promise of combining all eras of the Bond movies in a single, anthological experience was an intriguing one, but the game seemed much more interested in instead being a poorly made Call of Duty clone that did not even have the shooting mechanics to back up those ambitions.

TERMINATOR 3: WAR OF THE MACHINES

Also often known as the poor man’s Battlefield 1942, Terminator 3: War of the Machines is a rare example of a game where it’s genuinely hard to come up with legitimate redeeming qualities. In almost every way that mattered, this was a game that came up short in significant ways. It was ugly to look at, its awful level design made it a chore to play, it was riddled with technical issues, its multiplayer was downright broken- and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

FAR CRY VENGEANCE

The Far Cry series has generally maintained an admirable level of quality with its mainline entries over the years, but its spinoff offerings have stumbled in more worse ways. Exhibit A: Far Cry Vengeance, an absolute mess of a remake of a game that wasn’t that great to begin with. Vengeance checked almost none of the boxes that you want a Far Cry game to check, instead coming across as an underwhelming cashgrab with mindlessly repetitive offerings and downright ugly visuals.

ROGUE WARRIOR

How this game was allowed to release in any form, much less as a full-priced $60 release back in the day, will forever remain one of gaming’s greatest mysteries. Releasing in an era that was oversatursated with shooters, Rogue Warrior offered absolutely nothing of value. Rather than focusing on fun shooting and stealth and solid design, the game instead relied on horrible writing and dull mechanics, all delivered in a shockingly short campaign and broken multiplayer modes.

HAZE

Haze was one of several games to be billed as a supposed Halo killer in the lead-up to its release back in the day, and like every single one of them, it did not live up to that billing. On the contrary, in fact, it has rightly gone down as one of the worst games of its era. Though Haze could show fleeting flashes of quality from time to time, it was ultimately far too much of a mess across both its campaign and multiplayer modes to be remembered as anything more than than massive disappointment it was.

Revealed in June 2021 for Xbox Series X/S and PC, it’s set in the titular town where vampires have taken over and blotted out the sun. While Arkane Austin mostly cut its teeth on immersive sim titles, its last being 2017’s Prey, this was open-world, focused on gunplay and offering unique kits for each character.

Updates were sparse until Microsoft announced in May 2022 that Redfall and Starfield were delayed to the first half of 2023. As its release year rolled around, Redfall started generating a bit of concern. Campaign co-op progress tied to the host, a persistent online connection (even while playing solo) – the last straw was arguably no 60 FPS option available for Xbox Series X/S consoles at launch.

This was the least of its problems, though. Redfall finally launched to mixed reviews, with the public reception arguably even worse. Aside from all the technical issues and bugs, the title received criticism for its terrible user interface, lackluster story (presented in dull, barely animated cutscenes), horrible controls, and a barren world. On top of this, it had no co-op matchmaking – baffling, considering playing with others was a selling point.

Despite sales later being considered “minimal,” Arkane Austin wasn’t slated to be shut down (at least, not then). For its part, Arkane Austin implemented improvements to the best of its ability, with update 1.1 launching in June 2023 and increasing the spawn rate of enemies, upping the difficulty level while polishing their AI and fixing performance issues.

The update was more targeted towards improving the overall experience, from visibility when aiming down sights on sniper rifle scopes to ammo persisting between gameplay sessions when using ammo storage skills. It was also now possible to move while using melee attacks against enemies without interruption. New issues seemingly emerged, like infinite loading screens, Nest completion not counting towards the Rook’s meter, etc.

The next update wouldn’t be until October, but it added the long-awaited 60 FPS Performance Mode on Xbox Series X/S. Aim assist and dead zone tuning were improved. addressing one of the more underrated complaints with the horrendous aiming and lack of options to tweak it. Performance on PC also saw multiple improvements to accommodate a wider range of configurations.

While it didn’t offer too much by way of new missions, loot or enemy types, you could now stealth takedown Cultists and Bellwether enemies. Missions encounters saw balance changes, and the open world now had more enemies with some unique encounters to discover. Quality-of-life changes, like surfaces denoted as interactable for vaulting and mantling, and more consistency to compass markers and objectives that require searching areas, were also implemented.

The next update arrived in November and added a new Unrivaled Sniper Rifle in Basilisk. Its unique perk is the first bullet in a full magazine possessing UV power, thus petrifying Vampires if it hits. Not ideal against humans or enemies immune to Petrification, but it was a decent addition to the loot pool.

Otherwise, there were rebalances to enemies. You would no longer encounter Shrouds, Anglers and Siphons until completing some missions or reaching a certain level. However, enemies overall became more challenging, whether it’s Watchers reacting faster to players within its line of sight, the Siphon being more resistant to fire, or Soulless enemies dealing more damage up close. Human enemies were also buffed – they could finally climb awnings. Truly wondrous.

While Arkane Austin didn’t have any information on the two new heroes available with the Bite Back Edition’s Hero Pass, it did promise more details in 2024. Despite its rough launch year, there was hope.

Of course, its first anniversary came and went with still no details, not even a celebratory tweet. Instead, on May 7th, Microsoft shockingly announced that Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Studios of Mighty Doom fame and Arkane Austin were shutting down. Roundhouse Studios, which supported Redfall’s development, would be rolled into ZeniMax Online Studios to work on The Elder Scrolls Online.

The announcement came out of left field for Arkane since it was still working on its new heroes and an update to add offline mode. Both were seemingly scrapped, with servers remaining online, and those who purchased the Bite Back Edition or its premium upgrade were eligible to receive some credit back.

However, Arkane Austin later confirmed that the update would launch and be the game’s last before the studio closed. It arrived on May 30th and offered a small but substantial list of new features. A new reputation system, Community Standing, had been added and increased based on unlocking Safehouses, helping civilians and killing Underbosses.

This wasn’t a simple bar to fill, though. Community Standing had a dedicated skill tree with six ranks and 39 rewards. You could make it so that human enemies dropped more ammo on kill, Grave Locks appeared on your map and compass (making them easier to find), and unlocked Safehouses provided friendly turrets. Decreased damage from the Rook’s lightning strikes, improved rewards from Anglers, Shrouds and Siphons, more frequent Unrivaled Items and even a special cloak that would activate if your health fell to critical levels were also available to unlock.

There were also new Elder Nests whose objective involved slaying powerful vampires to receive temporary buffs like regenerating ammo on holstered weapons or getting healed by UV light. Players could now play offline, continuing their campaign if disconnected from the internet, and pause – yes, pause – while playing solo. Though it didn’t provide patch notes, Arkane Austin also touted, “New enemy encounters in Redfall Commons, continued AI improvements, Story Mode difficulty, and a new Unrivaled Weapon.” Alas, it was too little, too late.

Even with these updates and the studio officially shuttered, Redfall maintains a “Mostly Negative” rating on Steam, with only 37 percent positive reviews. Sift through the few positive ones (with 81 percent of the 44 recent reviews being positive), and there’s some praise for the new Community Standing system and offline play. Nevertheless, those who enjoyed the game admit that you should pick it up at a heavy discount, and even then, it’s just fine. In the end, the redemption arc was cut short.

Like many live service titles, Redfall had its share of alleged development troubles. Nevertheless, the closure of Arkane Austin is bittersweet, both for the employees who tried to make the game a success and those who valued its previous single-player efforts. The fact that a single-player focus immersive sim, potentially a new Dishonored, was reportedly pitched before the studio’s closure makes you wonder what could have been.

Arkane Lyon remains, and it’s somewhat poetic that its next project, Marvel’s Blade, is yet another game about slaying vampires. The more things change, the more they remain the same, but hopefully, the outcome ends up more in the studio’s favor.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Metal Gear Survive

Metal Gear Solid 5 took the fan-beloved series to new heights with its shift to an open-world structure, but the road to release was anything but smooth. The turbulent development led to the infamous Kojima Konami breakup, putting a big question mark on the future of the franchise. Konami tried to take the game’s foundations and create another makeshift zombie open world out of it with Metal Gear Survive, but it was a spectacular failure. A barren open-world, repetitive missions, and uninteresting progression mechanics were some of the biggest issues that plague Survive’s gameplay loop – making it a really boring time.

The refunds are reportedly going out in waves and applied to both Xbox and Steam players. A quick peek at the unofficial subreddit corroborates this, but interestingly, one user even received a refund for the physical Bite Back Edition after speaking to Bethesda Customer Support.

Redfall is available for Xbox Series X/S and PC. It launched to underwhelming reviews (check out ours here), and Microsoft later confirmed it generated “minimal sales.”

Despite its closure, Arkane Austin released one final update for the co-op shooter, adding an offline mode, pausing in solo play, and Elder Nests. There’s also a new Unrivaled weapon, a Community Standing tree for unlocking new skills by defeating an Underboss, unlocking Safehouses and more. Head here for more details. Servers will remain online, but stay tuned for updates on that front.

Underpowered Xbox Series S

Releasing a more economical variant of its current current-gen console line-up seemed like a shrewd consumer-first move by Microsoft in 2020. After all, for a significant price drop you could still enjoy some of the Xbox Series X’s marquee features on Series S, such as Xbox Velocity Architecture, DirectX Raytracing, and Quick Resume. It’s those downgrades that are starting to stifle the Series S’s place in market now we’re in 2024 – less processing power and lower max resolution the principal features that’re starting to become a headache for developers and players alike.

For starters, several quality-of-life features have been added to the game with its latest update. For instance, Redfall can now finally be played offline, while when playing solo, you will now also have the option to pause the game. Beyond that, there’s also a new Story Mode difficulty, new enemy encounters and weapons, and DLSS3 support.

Additionally, a couple of major new gameplay features have also been introduced. There’s a revamped Neighborhoods system, which comes with a new Safehouse skill tree that you are able to progress through, which, in turn, is done by filling up the new Community Standing bar by unlocking Safehouses, completing Safehouse missions, rescuing civilians, or killing an Underboss. The new tree has six ranks in total, each bringing with it a number of unique unlockable buffs and boosts.

Finally, there’s also a revamped Nests system in place, which introduces the new Elder Nests, which are described as “new Boss-focused Nests will challenge you to destroy dangerously modified special Vampires”. Clearing these Nests will net you and your teammates with temporary buffs called Heart Shards, which will provide a variety of unique benefits.

Of course, though Arkane Austin isn’t going to be able to g through with its reportedly significant post-launch DLC plans for the maligned game, it does look like the studio is at least getting to push a significant final update before signing off for good.

Redfall is available on Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Game Update 4 is available now and features Offline Mode, ReVamped Neighborhood and Nest systems, Single Player Pausing, and more.

Learn more about the update here: https://t.co/h6M9lCfVwS pic.twitter.com/u9vuvcCI9x

— Redfall (@playRedfall) May 30, 2024

A release date wasn’t provided, but the developer said it would share additional details “soon.” IGN’s report claimed the update would be out in May, but given the sudden nature of its closing, it could have been pushed forward. Time will tell, so stay tuned.

Unfortunately, Hero Pass owners aren’t likely to receive the two promised DLC characters, rumored to be targeting Halloween. Arkane Studios is providing credit back for Bite Back Edition owners (which includes the Hero Pass), meaning it’s even less likely in the future.

Redfall is available for Xbox Series X/S and PC, alongside Game Pass, with servers remaining available for now. Check out our review.

Thank you for all your supportive messages.

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.

— Redfall (@playRedfall) May 17, 2024