Pete Hines, the Head of Publishing at Bethesda, has expressed unwavering dedication to the improvement of Arkane’s co-op FPS, Redfall, despite its less-than-stellar debut. Redfall was released on Xbox Series X|S and PC in May and faced criticism from players and reviewers alike. TechRadar Gaming’s hardware editor, Aleksha McLoughlin, went so far as to describe it as “one of the worst games of the year” and “the first black mark in an otherwise flawless body of work in the immersive sim developer’s 20+ year history.” Compared to the impressive game releases of 2023, such as Baldur’s Gate 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Redfall has struggled to gain traction.
However, Hines remains resolute that Redfall’s fate will change over time. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, he was asked about the impact of Redfall’s initial reception on Bethesda internally.
Hines responded, “We are always in a process of learning, so that’s not new for us. We don’t like failing to meet our players’ expectations. At the same time, we are the same company that has had launches that didn’t go the way we wanted, and we don’t quit or abandon stuff just because it didn’t start right.”
Hines highlighted that both Fallout 76 and the PC version of The Elder Scrolls Online faced challenges upon their initial releases but ultimately became popular games after receiving post-launch support.
“Redfall is no different for us,” he asserted. “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. We’re going to do 60fps. We’re going to get it to be a good game because we know, as a first-party studio, that Game Pass lives forever. There will be people ten years from now who are going to join Game Pass, and Redfall will be there.”
While the future of Redfall’s reception remains uncertain, Hines’ commitment suggests that players who initially had a less than ideal experience may have something to look forward to in the game’s ongoing development.
