Former Arkane Austin Director Reflects on Redfall's Failure and Studio Closure

Bethesda veteran Harvey Smith has reflected on the closure of Arkane Austin and the struggles of the studio's final game, Redfall. For anyone just catching up, Arkane Austin made the vampire game Redfall under Smith's leadership. After the live-service game failed to find an audience after launch in May 2023, Microsoft closed the studio a year later and ended most support for the game.

Smith appeared on the My Perfect Console podcast recently and said, Every company makes the decisions they make for the reasons they make them. For Arkane Austin's closure, Smith said the shock was that Arkane, as a wider group that also comprised Dishonored studio Arkane Lyon, made well-received and commercially successful games.

Creative efforts are unpredictable, he said. It was a shock at first, but who I really felt for were the people who were new, this was their first project or they'd only been in the industry for a while. Naturally, Smith said he did not agree with the choice to close Arkane Austin, saying he believed very much in the studio's future. We were working on something super cool, he said.

As for Redfall's struggles, Smith said the game's 1.4 update, released after word came that Arkane Austin would close, delivered a lot of improvements that might have saved the game had they been there at launch. If we had launched with that and then built from there it might have been a different story, he said.

GameSpot's Redfall review scored the game a 4 out of 10. Reviewer Mark Delaney wrote, Ultimately, Redfall is a game that should not have been released yet. The game struggled with technical issues, lackluster gameplay, and an overall unfinished feel that disappointed both critics and players.

Arkane Lyon is now working on a new Blade game with Marvel, but it's been some time since we've seen or heard anything about it. The closure of Arkane Austin represents a significant loss for the gaming industry, as the studio was known for creating immersive, narrative-driven experiences like Dishonored and Prey.

The story of Redfall and Arkane Austin serves as a reminder of how unpredictable game development can be, even for studios with strong track records. The industry continues to face challenges with live-service games and the pressure to deliver successful titles in an increasingly competitive market.