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[gokurho]

Xbox wasn't involved with Redfall, but it's still blamed for its quality

Fair or not, Bethesda games now reflect on Xbox.

www.windowscentral.com

Actually, Xbox wasn't involved with Redfall ...

Redfall doesn't even vaguely approach the quality bar expected of Arkane, and indeed, Xbox itself. However, I have been told by multiple sources that Xbox was entirely hands-off with the project, and that the game doesn't fall under Xbox Game Studios' director Matt Booty's responsibilities — because rightly or wrongly, right now, Arkane is not an Xbox Game Studio by internal definition.

Spencer oversees the entire business as a whole and speaking completely realistically, it shouldn't fall on him to get into the minutiae of every single game launching under the brand. There are only so many physical human hours in the day. Other teams need to be responsible for their own stuff, but I think there's a fair question to be made with regard to oversight and intra-property support and cohesion.

In any case, this isn't a defense of how Microsoft has set up its internal game dev studios, nor is it a criticism. I'm just relaying the current facts as they are, with regard to how integrated some of the teams are. The question we're ultimately exploring here is, "Should Microsoft create a stronger pipeline for oversight?" Or, "Is there a happy medium between oversight, support, and independence?" Because it's absolutely true that everything that occurs within the Microsoft Gaming umbrella reflects on the public brand, and that is Xbox. And Xbox is hurting right now.

Don't blame Xbox, Phil and Matt for Redfall

 

[RoboFu]

Maybe they should have been.

 

[adamsapple]

They're not blame free and they need to be more hands on with their devs.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

another one.

L aftet L.

 

[Tsaki]

He'd be singing a different tune would the game be a 90+

 

[Mister Wolf]

Back to back duds from Arkane. They need to be reined in.

 

[Captain Toad]

Xbox wasn't involved? Arkane decided to pull the PS5 version all by themselves?

Xbox was involved in Psychonauts 2?

I can't keep all this straight.

 

[M1987]

They are a Xbox first party studio,so of course it's their fault too

 

[chromhound]

Time to close the studio

 

[Skifi28]

LEAVE PHIL ALONE

 

[odhiex]

Oh no...what if the game came critically and commercially successful?

 

[Thirty7ven]

That’s a new one.

 

[M1987]

Oh no...what if the game came critically and commercially successful?

Then they was heavily involved of course

 

[Neilg]

Ultimately when a game has that many issues, it is a fault of senior management if they a) don't know about them or b) choose to do nothing about it.
He's the one that would approve a delay or higher budget, or pull staff from another studio to help out.

That's actually something Sony does very well - there's a lot more talent sharing going on, even between the big studios.

 

[McCarth]

If this were true this would be 1000x worse than just admitting it was rushed to support GP.

It also implies absolutely zero benefit to MS acquisitions beyond exclusivity, which would be sad to see and a massive waste of potential.

 

[Luigi Mario]

These excuses, especially from this Jez Corden character, are getting embarrassing.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Xbox only allowed this mediocre unfinished game to be released on Gamepass, but that is correct it's totally not Microsofts fault.

Just like it's not Microsoft's fault that they can barely release one major exclusive a year unlike 2-3 a year from Sony.

 

[feynoob]

They're not blame free and they need to be more hands on with their devs.

This hands free on is not working for Xbox.

 

[ReBurn]

Redfall is now a Microsoft property. Bethesda failures are Microsoft failures.

 

[DonJorginho]

Jez is an embarrassing individual, someone who will actively ignore all valid points if it's against his precious plastic box.

 

[Draugoth]

It's like saying your father isnt to blame for the shitty result after he wanted you to mow down the grass with a pair of scissors in 24 hours while he holds you at gunpoint.

 

[Captain Toad]

What's important now is that Phil leaves the office and does podcasts and interviews.

 

[feynoob]

Redfall is now a Microsoft property. Bethesda failures are Microsoft failures.

There was no test quality or anything. Even with 1 year delay, and less platform to work, it was still a shit game.

There has to be accountability there.

 

[gothmog]

Anyone still think there isn't a management issue at Xbox? They're too busy avoiding responsibility and most importantly accountably.

Who told them to cancel the PS5 version? Fire that person. It would at least be a start.

 

[DonJorginho]

Also is quite hilarious that seemingly Xbox's only involvement in this title was blocking it from releasing on PlayStation

I wanted this game to be good, I mean I have to given I've got gamepass till 2025, I need the drops to be worth something, sadly this was absolutely shocking, even worse than I thought it would be.

They cannot risk to even slightly misfire with Starfield, I wouldn't be surprised if they delay it again out of a panic.

 

[Brigandier]

Oh gtfo lol... they'd be sucking Phil's if the game was great and successful.

Total bullshit article from a bullshit site.

 

[Bernardougf]

Statfield 90+ metacritic

"How MS helped turnaround and make bethesda game espetacular!"

 

[ReBurn]

There was no test quality or anything. Even with 1 year delay, and less platform to work, it was still a shit game.

There has to be accountability there.

I'm sure there will be. It just won't be public.

 

[M1987]

Statfield 90+ metacritic

"How MS helped turnaround and make bethesda game espetacular!"

Exactly

 

[GHG]

This isn't the win he thinks it is. Even if it were true (which it isn't) then in some ways it's actually worse. Imagine spending $7 billion on something and then being negligent with it.

 

[Skifi28]

It's like saying your father isnt to blame for the shitty result after he wanted you to mow down the grass with a pair of scissors in 24 hours while he holds you at gunpoint.

That's....Oddly specific. Tough childhood?

 

[DonJorginho]

The only thing more funny than this article was Xbox Era scoring the game an 8/10.

 

[bentanchorbolt]

We all know that Bethesda is responsible for Bethesda, and tbh it doesn't really matter if this is on Matt Booty or Phil Spencer, because any way you slice it this is a big negative for the Xbox brand who desperately needs high quality content right now. And its not even that Redfall isn't good, its that its legit a bad game and it came at a time when MS needs wins more than ever.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Whoever greenlighted the release should be fired.

 

[Solidus_T]

I call BS. If Xbox wasn't involved, then who's decision was it to remove the game from PS5?
Xbox needs a change of management

 

[Imtjnotu]

Whoever greenlighted the release should be fired.

Rumors from months ago said Xbox pushed them to release it knowing it was going to be rough.

Same rumor mentioned the same thing about Starfield

 

[ProtoByte]

Is Jez Corden unironically a paid shill? This is pathetic.
Either way, someone was gucking lying this whole time. Arkane was lying about what Redfall was and people were somehow still buying it despite seeing footage for themselves, and both Microsoft and the media propagated those lies; Microsoft, who used this game and Starfield as the big selling points, the games that were totally going to turn things around this time.

 

[T4keD0wN]

2 back to back duds from Arkane. They need to be reined in.

Redfall being such a big dud that it counts as 2.

 

[Varteras]

This isn't the win he thinks it is. Even if it were true (which it isn't) then in some ways it's actually worse. Imagine spending $7 billion on something and then being negligent with it.

Especially when you were able to buy the company because their games weren't selling and something clearly needed to change.

Rumors from months ago said Xbox pushed them to release it knowing it was going to be rough.

Same rumor mentioned the same thing about Starfield

A rumor from a person who leaked Hi-Fi Rush, no less.

 

[FIREKNIGHT2029]

Jez Corden on that Copium.

This man is a paid shill. I don't know why people bother reading his articles. He's basically a PR mouthpiece of Microsoft at this point.

 

[Ansphn]

Jez Cordan is a volunteer shill for Microsoft. No one believes this man. He does the shilling free too.

 

[Punished Miku]

It is probably true that Xbox doesn't micromanage Bethesda. Matches the hands off approach everyone has described.

Doesn't mean they aren't in charge and responsible for the games. If they decide to be hands off, that is their blame for deciding to not be more involved.

I dont really find this that hard to believe though. They even separate out Bethesda in the E3 shows. Xbox and Bethesda show. I dont think Redfall has the XBG Studio intro when you start it up. Not sure. Doesn't really matter though. Very inside baseball nonsense. Its an Xbox game.

 

[Fbh]

"Come on guys, Microsoft clearly had nothing to do with this first party game from a company they've owned for 2 years. Also you can't expect Phil Spencer to be on top of every single game they release, it's not like this is the first big AAA game Microsoft has released since the end of 2021"

 

[Punished Miku]

"Come on guys, Microsoft clearly had nothing to do with this first party game from a company they've owned for 2 years. Also you can't expect Phil Spencer to be on top of every single game they release, it's not like this is the first big AAA game Microsoft has released since the end of 2021"

Nothing about this game is AAA. I'm not sure Arkane has ever made a AAA game, but this is my first one.

 

[FritzJ92]

They're not blame free and they need to be more hands on with their devs.

Too hands on, need to be more hands on. maybe you all don't know what you're talking about. You all being the media.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

 

[LordCBH]

“Doesn’t approach the quality bar of Xbox”

Crackdown 3 disagrees.

 

[Loomy]

The Zenimax deal closed over 2 years ago. There's no way you're telling me at no point in the last 2 years Matt Booty or one of his people didn't look at this game and think "maybe let's chat with whoever at Bethesda is the producer on this game".

Both Microsoft and Bethesda need to take responsibility for this. Microsoft especially because this is their first AAA exclusive since Halo Infinite. Why did they not take care to make sure everything was fucking perfect?

This is a larger problem with Microsoft right now. They seem to be incapable of managing their studios and projects. Unfortunately for Phil, that starts with him. if you can't fo it all yourself, hire good managers. If you can't do that, then maybe you need to let someone do your job.

 

[GHG]

Nothing about this game is AAA. I'm not sure Arkane has ever made a AAA game, but this is my first one.

Price says otherwise.

 

[Punished Miku]

Price says otherwise.

I agree there's no reason this should be $70. Fair point there.

But I've never defined AAA by game price. I define it by development cost, team size, production values. This game is a mid tier AA shooter all the way. Just look at the character models. This wouldn't even be AAA last gen.