This week the game Redfall by Arkane Austin was released and caused disappointment among critics and gamers. Xbox boss Phil Spencer spoke out about the disappointing reaction in an interview with (YouTube channel Kinda) Funny Games shortly after the release.
Although he couldn’t or didn’t want to address every single point of criticism, he emphasized that Redfall was a mistake and such a grievance must not be repeated in the future. The question still remains: How could it come to this?
Why did Redfall fail? This is what Phil Spencer
says.
In an interview with Kinda Funny Games, Xbox chief Phil Spencer admitted responsibility for Redfall’s misstep. The disappointment about it, both among gamers and himself, is great. But despite technical problems and unconvincing gameplay loop, another postponement was not an option, he said. Spencer visibly ruefully admitted that the Arkane Austin team was not adequately supported when Bethesda was acquired by Xbox. For future projects and studios, however, Xbox plans to take a different approach, one that also differs significantly from Sony’s Playstation path. Stand on highly polished expensive blockbusters one wants to focus on the Gamepass and smaller, more diverse titles.
Failure at the top level?
It is also interesting to note that Spencer admits that the Redfall team was not as widely supported from the beginning as Todd Howard Starfield developers This is said to have contributed to some of the gameplay issues as well. Nevertheless, he asks players to see the game for themselves and holds out the prospect of Bethesda showing more of their vision at the Starfield showcase in June. In conclusion, Spencer stresses that Xbox still has a long way to go to catch up with Sony and Nintendo, especially after losing the battle in the last-gen era of the PS4 and Xbox One.
Clear and honest words, which is not really known from the industry and its spokespersons and bosses. This alone does not excuse the disastrous game Redfall, of course, but you get understanding for the underlying reasons and structures. It will also be exciting in the near future to observe how a possible conclusion of the Microsoft-Activision deal will affect Xbox’s brand strategy.
