what you should Know
- Redfall is a vampire slaying shooter from former Microsoft affiliate Arkane Austin.
- The game was a commercial and critical failure, criticized for its overall lack of polish and uninspired gameplay.
- About a year after its launch, Microsoft shut down the studio behind the game, Arkane Austin, which also created the criminally underrated immersive game Prey.
- Users who purchased Redfall’s “Bite Back Edition” were promised additional DLC, which was eventually canceled.
- Microsoft has now started issuing refunds to owners of digital products on Steam and Xbox.
Redfall was a 4-player co-op shooter set on a fictional island community besieged by vampires and other such mutants. Developed by Arkane Austin of Prey fame, Redfall looked promising in its initial marketing cycle, but the full game unfortunately fell far short of expectations. A general lack of polish, accompanied by uninspired gameplay, made Redfall struggle to stand out from the busy crowd and thus failed to find an audience.
Microsoft acquired the studio behind Redfall some time in the middle of development, as part of the Bethesda / ZeniMax purchase a few years ago. Roughly a year after Redfall’s disappointing launch, Microsoft shut down Arkane Austin, along with Tango Gameworks and other Bethesda Studios, as part of a restructuring effort. Incidentally, Redfall’s promised DLC plans have been delayed, leaving users who purchased season passes and related content earlier with the game’s “Bite Back” edition in the lurch. Now it looks like Microsoft and Bethesda are trying to repair the damage.
Tonight I received tips from users who purchased Redfall’s Bite Back Edition that they are receiving automatic refunds. The Bite Back Edition costs $26.99 and Microsoft appears to be refunding the full amount to Xbox and Steam users.
The refunds appear to be rolling out in waves, with some already received while others are currently waiting. You should check your spam attached to your Steam or Xbox account in case it ended up there. One user also informed me that he was able to work with Bethesda customer support to get a refund for the physical version of Redfall Bite Back Edition as well after submitting a ticket. Although, if you go this route, be patient with the wait time as there may be a few other people trying to get a refund through this method as well.
The right thing for customers
Redfall had a solid concept behind it considering we live in a world with a chronic lack of high quality vampire games these days. Perhaps this is the enduring curse of the Twilight movies, but unfortunately, Redfall was not destined for greatness. Redfall received some solid updates after launch, including a 60 FPS mode, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.
The human cost of Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks and other studios shut down by Microsoft in recent years is still raw to think about. But at the very least, it’s nice to see Bethesda and Microsoft making things right for customers who purchased expected content only to not receive it. If you picked up the Redfall Bite Back Edition, watch your inbox for a refund or write to Bethesda Customer Support if you own a physical version.
Arkane lives on under the Arkane Lyon branch, now working with Disney and Marvel on a game based on the similarly vampiric Blade IP.
