Xbox | Zenimax Development Studios | Activision | Blizzard | King

[the-pi-guy]

Jez Corden : "I can confirm MS had no involvement in the decision to delay/release Redfall, but maybe they should have. This is a straight Youngbloodening."

Jeff Grubb : "I'll say about a month ago I was talking to somebody and they mentioned, 'yeah Redfall is going to be a disaster.' I'm like well let's wait and see, well I guess I should have trusted him. He knew what he was talking about and it's like.... that was coming from the Microsoft side. So I was like 'well you know they're aware' apparently, or they were aware. That it's in rough shape."

Jeff Grubb : "The understanded way it works at Microsoft is they don't change anything, they let the studios just keep doing what they're doing and barely interfere at all. You know interfere, they barely like manage it at all, it's like 'well the managers that were there before we hired them to and they're still managing those studios."

[the-pi-guy]

It seems to be a consistent message the past few years that MS is too hands off with their studios. Which can be great if the studio is already doing great things. But not great if there are no means to correct a studio off track.

I also wonder how integrated the studios are with each other. SIE seems to have tons of connections with their studios, for tech or suggestions.

[Legend]

Some thoughts and investigations on Redfall + Microsoft.

Rumors that Microsoft "denied" Redfall a delay are just lies. Microsoft and ZeniMax are still operating with limited integration.

Read before commenting, cus I prob answered you already! ????https://t.co/ABWMnnoMgx #Xbox

— Jez ???? (@JezCorden) May 3, 2023

Lol nothing but damage control. "Xbox wasn't involved with Redfall, but it's still blamed for its quality."


Article would be good if it was just defending Matt Booty.

[kitler53]

very trumpian,.. take credit for other's success and give blame for your failures.

[the-pi-guy]

I had a different read on the article than either of you.

I didn't read it quite as "it's not MS's fault, they weren't involved with the game". But more along the lines of "it's MS's fault, [because] they weren't involved with the game".  

Considering it's Jez though, I'll certainly say your interpretations are more correct than mine.

[Legend]

I had a different read on the article than either of you.

I didn't read it quite as "it's not MS's fault, they weren't involved with the game". But more along the lines of "it's MS's fault, [because] they weren't involved with the game".  

Considering it's Jez though, I'll certainly say your interpretations are more correct than mine.

I really don't understand how this game happened. Why could Deathloop expand from the studio's roots and be a good multiplayer shooter while Redfall couldn't? Just going off the creators involved and such both games should have been of similar quality.

On paper, Deathloop should have been the worse game. Dinga Bakaba directed Deathloop and had only previously directed Wolfenstein Youngblood which got a 67 on opencritic. Meanwhile Harvey Smith directed both Dishonoreds and Redfall. Additionally, Redfall was made in Unreal Engine while Deathloop was their custom Void Engine.

Was Sony hands on with Deathloop or did they just write a check and wait for the end product?

[kitler53]

since one turned out good and the other didn't I'm going to credit Sony and blame MS.  no evidence needed.  confirmation bias is all I need. 

[BananaKing]

I think its more if the developers fault here. No matter what MS do, they can't make a bad game turn good simply by giving it more time.

[kitler53]

I think its more if the developers fault here. No matter what MS do, they can't make a bad game turn good simply by giving it more time.

it's more about QC.  

no,.. MS could not have saved this.  it's not like they could have moved a bunch of azure developers to help out.  

but MS should be aware of the state of a project... especially one that already got delayed a year.  and if  a game doesn't reach a certain standard it shouldn't ship.  ..or get cancelled.   this game really hurts the Xbox brand.  

[BananaKing]

it's more about QC.  

no,.. MS could not have saved this.  it's not like they could have moved a bunch of azure developers to help out.  

but MS should be aware of the state of a project... especially one that already got delayed a year.  and if  a game doesn't reach a certain standard it shouldn't ship.  ..or get cancelled.   this game really hurts the Xbox brand.  

Well Ms was put in a situation where they either cancel and lose all the money and effort the team put in. Or, release it, get whatever revenue or engagement on gamepass, and take the hit to their brand.

[kitler53]

Well Ms was put in a situation where they either cancel and lose all the money and effort the team put in. Or, release it, get whatever revenue or engagement on gamepass, and take the hit to their brand.

a poorly executed position to be in but spencer gets paid the big bucks to make the hard decisions.   for redfall he made the wrong decision.

[the-pi-guy]

I really don't understand how this game happened. Why could Deathloop expand from the studio's roots and be a good multiplayer shooter while Redfall couldn't? Just going off the creators involved and such both games should have been of similar quality.

On paper, Deathloop should have been the worse game. Dinga Bakaba directed Deathloop and had only previously directed Wolfenstein Youngblood which got a 67 on opencritic. Meanwhile Harvey Smith directed both Dishonoreds and Redfall. Additionally, Redfall was made in Unreal Engine while Deathloop was their custom Void Engine.

It seems like it had troubled development.
Redfall will require an online connection, even in single-player, Bethesda confirms

Some seem to think it was intended to be a live service game.

Was Sony hands on with Deathloop or did they just write a check and wait for the end product?

I think Sony had a pretty good idea of what the end product was roughly going to look like.
I feel like people have been unconvinced about Redfall for quite a while.

 Concerning, is that he says there was a huge difference (double digits lower) internal reviews vs actual reviews.

[Legend]

It seems like it had troubled development.
Redfall will require an online connection, even in single-player, Bethesda confirms

Some seem to think it was intended to be a live service game.
I think Sony had a pretty good idea of what the end product was roughly going to look like.
I feel like people have been unconvinced about Redfall for quite a while.

 Concerning, is that he says there was a huge difference (double digits lower) internal reviews vs actual reviews.

I'm still going through watching the video but his comments seem pretty honest. Defends why Redfall wasn't delayed again, saying essentially that the game is what it is. Another few weeks would have helped with bugs but it wouldn't have changed Redfall's core.


Rewatching the reveal trailer, I guess I was being too positive on it. I love Arkane so I was hoping for more but that trailer isn't any better than the final game. Maybe they just had a horrible vision from day 1.

[the-pi-guy]

I'm just going to say this.


Age of Empires is one of the best games Microsoft has ever made.

That is all.  

[Legend]

I'm just going to say this.


Age of Empires is one of the best games Microsoft has ever made.

That is all.  

I'd pull out my disc and play the og, but I don't have a disc drive.

I loved it as a kid. Cobra car!