Some vampires need to be staked right out of the coffin.
This has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week for Bethesda and Arkane Austin following the release of Redfall. The $70 coop Vampire looter shooter launched to abysmal reviews (Forbes said that “it’s a game that does nothing right”) and savage reactions from players who lambasted the mostly unfinished project. Steam’s sitting on “mostly negative” following a review bombing campaign, and scores elsewhere echo the disappointment and rage over this botched mess.
And if all of that isn’t enough to make Bethesda wince, the makers now have to watch their boss, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, publicly apologize for Redfall’s state. On an Xbox podcast, Spencer said, “There’s nothing more difficult for me than disappointing the Xbox community. Just to kind of watch the community lose confidence, be disappointed, I’m disappointed, I’m upset with myself.”
He continued by saying that while he supports Redfall’s team, he knows the release hurt the overall brand: “We let a lot of people down this week with the launch of the game, but we will continue to strive on. You have to, right? That’s what creative is about.”
