Bilawal Bashir 
Xbox continues to lay off swaths of its game development talent, including Arkane Austin, developers of 2023’s co-op shooter Redfall, leaving the game’s promised DLC in doubt.
May 7, 2024 started with a harsh contrast between console manufacturers. Nintendo announced how the Switch console was wildly profitable and confirmed that a next-gen console would be revealed within the fiscal year. Meanwhile, Microsoft confirmed that it’s shuttering four studios. Fans of Redfall who bought the Bite Back Premium Edition were still waiting on DLC characters related to the game. With the studio’s closure, the wait seems indefinite.
Redfall launched to a hostile reception, with gamers complaining about poor performance and gameplay optimizations. Despite a couple of patches that aimed to enhance the overall experience, including introducing the 60 FPS option to the Xbox version, the game still holds a “Mostly Negative” rating on Steam. However, those who invested in the Bite Back Edition were still hopeful for the arrival of the two additional promised characters. But that’s not actually going to happen.
Will Redfall get the promised DLC characters?
Development on Redfall is confirmed to be over and no more DLC characters will be added.
In June 2023, Matt Booty stated that there were no plans to close down Arkane Austin and the company would continue to support Redfall. That was either untrue or the company is currently making snap decisions to lay off staff and close studios in 2024.
Alongside this, Bethesda announced that Redfall will not receive any further updates. This means those who purchased the deluxe editions of the game will not be receiving the content that they paid for in advance.
The last major content update came in November 2023. It improved various facets of the game including improved AI, NPC behavior, and gameplay balance. The patch notes mentioned that the developers were “continuing development of The Hero Pass,” a feature that was supposed to introduce new heroes to the game. Details were to be revealed in 2024.
With Arkane Austin shutting down, Redfall won’t receive any more updates or the promised Hero Pass DLC characters. The closure also likely dashed hopes of Redfall landing on PlayStation, even though other Xbox exclusives are making the jump.
Will players get refunds for undelivered Hero Pass DLC?
Xbox Games Studios head Matt Booty said the company would give “make-good offers” to players who purchased the Hero Pass.
Despite the studio’s closure, Xbox plans to keep the game and its servers online, ensuring that the game is not being closed or delisted from Xbox or Steam. This means that players who have purchased the game will continue to have access. Other Bethesda games, including the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Marvel’s Blade games, are unaffected.
There is no timeline or details on what that “make-good offer” will look like for players. Bethesda’s customer support page will seemingly be handling the matter. Steam has a history of going rogue when it comes to refunding purchases for games that prove controversial, with the most recent example being Helldivers 2. Those who purchased the game on Xbox are ultimately beholden to Microsoft’s whims.
