Former Arkane Austin studio head, Harvey Smith, says hearing fan feedback after playing the “cleaned up, final version” of Redfall has given him “a burst of energy”.
After reflecting on Game Update 4 – which introduced offline mode, “ReVamped” neighbourhood and nest systems, and the ability to pause amongst other things – Smith also teased that he was “looking forward to talking about” his plans post-Arkane Austin’s sad closure.
“Hearing from the people playing the cleaned up, final version of Redfall is such a burst of energy,” Smith wrote. “I’m looking forward to talking about what I’ll be doing next.”
Smith also added a bittersweet note that he’d also “finally hit inbox zero at the office”.
“The update really did bring a lot of new life into Redfall!” replied one fan. “Can’t wait to see what you do from here! Hopefully you can wrangle together some of the other Austin team members! Best of luck Harvey!”
“I don’t care what it is, just happy that you keep creating, King,” said another.
At the beginning of May, Microsoft announced brutal cuts and studio closures, affecting a slew of development houses under the Bethesda banner, including Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Games, and Redfall and Dishonored developer Arkane Austin.
“To everyone that has supported the work from our Austin studio over the years, thank you,” the studio wrote at the time. “Thank you for spending time in our worlds and making them your own.”
Redfall owners who purchased the Hero Pass or premium Bite Back upgrade and were still awaiting content they paid for were instead credited to the value as the pass.
Check out Redfall one last time with Donlan’s wonderful piece, One last stroll through Redfall, at the pace it was always meant to be played.
