Xbox Admits Redfall Was A "Miss", Blames Itself

thegamer.com:

Redfall was an odd game before it had even launched. While undoubtedly keeping the Arkane artstyle, the choice to make a live service right off the back of (mostly) single-player hits like Deathloop and the Dishonoured series felt like a huge departure for the studio. But it was perhaps because this departure was so brave that many set their expectations high, only to have them crushed on launch day.

Now, Xbox is blaming itself for this mess - kinda. While still making it clear that Redfall fell below its expectations, head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty takes accountability for failing to set these expectations in the first place. He also admits that Redfall was a "miss", even if he says Game Pass stats haven't been as rough as the critical reception.

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"I feel accountable that we could have done a better job with Arkane," says Matt Booty. Speaking with Axios, it's reported that he blames Xbox for failing to "set expectations around what the game needed to be as a first-party release."

However, despite this disappointment from fans and internally at Microsoft, the studio hasn't given up on the live service just yet. "I want to support them to be able to keep working to deliver the game they had in mind," says Booty. "That is the plan right now. They are hard at work on updates and continued content for Redfall.”

Booty also shoots down fears that Arkane is facing closure as a result of Redfall's performance, with the team instead allowed to continue ongoing development.

Yet despite Booty's insistence that Redfall's issues stemmed from Xbox failing to communicate expectations with Arkane, it is worth noting that, according to Phil Spencer, Xbox did conduct mock