In an interview with IGN France, Arkane Studios director Harvey Smith revealed that Redfall was originally intended to be a multiplatform release including a PlayStation 5 version. In the interview Smith said,
We got bought by Microsoft and that was a huge sea change. They said, ‘No PlayStation 5. Now we’re gonna do Game Pass, Xbox and PC.’
It has to be noted here that first parties—in this case Microsoft— almost always keep their own IPs exclusive (with a few exceptions, of course). For his part, Smith sees Xbox exclusivity as an advantage.
Support from Game Pass and having to worry about one less platform, one less complexity. And Game Pass has a ton of people that can play. It could be our biggest game ever because of the 30 million Game Pass [members] or whatever that number is.
However, this will not likely assuage Sony, especially when one considers that another Arkane Studios title, Deathloop, was one of the hottest PS5 games of 2021. No doubt Sony will point to Smith’s revelation in its bid to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The PlayStation maker has long complained that if Microsoft were to gain ownership of the uber-popular Call of Duty franchise, it could withhold those games from PlayStation and damage Sony’s position in the games industry.
One of the most anticipated titles of 2023, Redfall is an open-world FPS from the creators of Prey, Dishonored and Deathloop. Just last week Arkane released a story trailer for the game, showing off some of the monstrous foes players will be going up against in their quest to free the town of Redfall from the Vampire horde that has invaded it.
Redfall releases May 2 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC. It will be available on Game Pass day one.
Via GameInformer.
