Microsoft reportedly knew that Arkane Studios Austin’s Redfall would end up being a “disaster” a month prior to the game’s release.
Speaking in the latest episode of Last of the Nintendogs, Jeff Grubb, who is known for his connections in the game industry, stated that one such connection at Microsoft told him that Redfall was “‘going to be a disaster”. Grubb thought it best to wait until the game’s launch to decide whether this would be the case. However, in retrospect, he felt that he should’ve had more faith in his source.
He recalled that his source knew what he was talking about. Given that the information was coming from the Microsoft side, it meant that they were aware of that Redfall is in a rough state.
Grubb further stated that the way things work at Microsoft is that they don’t change anything, and let the studios continue doing what they’re doing and barely interfere at all. He further clarified that this means that Microsoft barely manages the studios at all. According to him, the software giant’s stance is that the managers were already there before it hired them, and they’re still managing those studios.
Meanwhile, Windows Central’s Jez Corden stated with certainty that Microsoft had no involvement in the decision to delay or release Redfall, though he felt that perhaps it should have. According to him, rumors that Microsoft “denied” Redfall a delay are mere lies. He added that Microsoft and ZeniMax are still operating with limited integration.
Meanwhile, the head of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, shared his thoughts on the Redfall debacle during the latest episode of Kinda Funny Xcast. He said that he wants to give studios the creative platform to go and push their aspirations, but he also needs to have a great selection of games that surprise and delight Xbox fans. As such, he apologized for the state of Redfall, and said that it’s neither what he expects nor is it what he wants.
