Redfall was set to get its long-promised offline mode this month before Microsoft decided to close its studio down, according to a new report.IGN’s sources say developer Arkane Austin was still working on DLC and updates for the game, working under the assumption they would be released soon, until it was announced on Tuesday that the studio would be shutting down and all development would stop.According to the report, an update was planned this month which was going to add an offline mode to the game, something fans had been requesting since before Redfall had even been released.In February 2023, three months before the game was released, it was confirmed that Redfall required “a persistent online connection”, even for single-player gameplay.
The studio subsequently said it was looking into removing the always-online requirement for solo players.This was finally set to happen this month, according to IGN’s report, but now that all development has ceased on the game it appears the offline mode will never make it to players.As such, there’s a real possibility that should Microsoft ever decide to turn off the online servers for Redfall, the game will become unplayable, even for those wishing to play through it in single-player mode.In September 2023, Bethesda‘s head of publishing Pete Hines said the company would make Redfall “a good game”, despite an underwhelming reception at launch.“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 said.“We’re going to do 60 frames per second.
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.”On Tuesday, news broke that Microsoft had informed staff of plans to close Arkane Austin, along with Hi-Fi Rush maker Tango Gameworks and fellow Bethesda studios Alpha Dog and Roundhouse.