Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, finally spoke out about what happened with Redfall and its disastrous launch. The executive accepted that the game debuted in bad shape, so he understands that players are disappointed with Arkane's proposal.
During an interview with Kinda Funny, Spencer acknowledged the game's problems and the studio's stumbling. He noted that he is also disappointed by everything that happened, so he promised improvements for Redfall and an overhaul to its management processes.
Phil Spencer talks about Redfall and its failure
“There’s nothing that’s more difficult for me than disappointing the Xbox community, and just to watch the community lose confidence, be disappointed, I’m disappointed, I’m upset with myself,” Spencer said.
The executive accepted that they have to improve some processes to guarantee the quality and good development of their games. He also touched on the issue of Redfall's shortcomings and whether a delay would have saved the game from disaster.
"It's maybe a little simplistic to just say hey if you would have delayed it three months, the core creative of the game would have delivered on something that was different than what it was.At some point we have to have a creative vision, and put the game out. Our reviewers and players will tell us what they think." added the Xbox chief.
From his perspective, things aren't that simple and he hinted that providing more time for development doesn't always guarantee something. On the other hand, he said they are committed to creative freedom and know Arkane can do great things.
"There’s clearly quality and execution things we can do, but one thing I won’t do is push against creative aspirations of our teams. I’m a huge supporter of Arkane Austin, their track record is awesome, I love a lot of their games that they’ve built. They didn’t hit their own internal goals when it launched." Spencer continued.
He acknowledged that Redfall fell short of Xbox's expectations in terms of internal metrics. Despite this, they will not abandon it and will work on adjustments to improve the current state of the title.
"We're gonna continue to work the game. We've shown a commitment to games like Sea of Thieves, and Grounded, to continue to go and build games. But I also know these games are $70, and I'm gonna take full responsibility for launching a game that needs to be great," Spencer said.
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