- Arkane has a history of making great games ("immersive sims"), but they have a reputation of their games not selling well.
- So, with GAAS (Games as a Service) as the new craze, Zenimax wanted a game from them with broader appeal & an in-game store with micro-transactions.
- Arkane wanted to hire employees that make multiplayer games, but most of the staff there that worked then and applied for jobs basically wanted to make "immersive sims".
- "Immersive sims" are games that often combine shooter/action/stealth/RPG elements and can be very open to finishing tasks in very different manners and with very different outcomes.
- For "imm-sims". think of games like Dishonored, Prey 2017, Arx Fatalis & other Arkane games...
- ...And other imm-sims" such as Thief series, System Shock series, Bioshock games, Deus Ex games as "immersive sims."
- Many felt that the multiplayer aspect of Redfall was at odds w/ the legacy of Arkane making single-player "immersive sims."
- " Staff members said that, over time, they grew frustrated with management’s frequently shifting references to other games, such as Far Cry and Borderlands, that left each department with varying ideas of what exactly they were making."
- "Throughout the development, the fundamental tension between single-player and multiplayer design remained unresolved."
- "(Harvey) Smith and Ricardo Bare [top management at Arkane & respected vet's, who were in charge here on Redfall] did not respond to requests for comment."
- 70% of staff from Arkane left by the end of Redfall namely b/c they wanted to make "immersive sims".
- Redfall was originally planned as a Sony Exclusive, before Microsoft bought Zenimax out (side note - Zenimax owns Arkane).
- "The acquisition gave some staff at Arkane hope that Microsoft might cancel Redfall or, better yet, let them reboot it as a single-player game, according to sources familiar with the production."
- "Instead, Microsoft maintained a hands-off approach."
- Leaders had said that the "Arkane magic would set in later", which is also poor language & what was said at BioWare/EA...
- ...On games like DA: Inquisition, ME: Andromeda, and Anthem. (We all know how the latter 2 turned out).
- Higher-ups said they didn't want an "In-Game Store" in the game, but that's not how the game was going for a lot of development.
- In the end, after GAAS became a thing gamers didn't want in a lot of their games, that Store got pulled from Redfall.
- Arkane was very understaffed with less than 100 employees on a game like this, in which many GAAS games are done w/ multiple studios with armies in the 100's.
- "Even additional support from ZeniMax’s Wisconsin-based Roundhouse Studios and other outsourcing houses couldn’t fill the gaps, they say."
- Yet during the final frantic months, the remaining Arkane staff found themselves stretched thin & the debut date was pushed back from Halloween of 2022 to early 2023...
- ...And then eventually to May 2, 2023.
