Redfall will eventually “be a good game”, Pete Hines says

Bethesda’s head of publishing, Pete Hines, has affirmed that Arkane’s co-op FPS Redfall won’t be abandoned, and that “we’re going to get it to be a good game”. 

Redfall released on Xbox Series X|S and PC back in May, and was heavily criticized by players and reviewers alike. TechRadar Gaming’s hardware editor, Aleksha McLoughlin, described it as “one of the worst games of the year”, and “the first black mark in an otherwise flawless body of work in the immersive sim developer’s 20+ year history”. Needless to say, compared to many impressive game releases of 2023 like Baldur’s Gate 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Redfall is, at least at the moment, far from a must-play.

However, Hines is determined that this will change – eventually, at least. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, he was asked how Redfall’s less-than-stellar reception impacted Bethesda internally.

“We are always in a process of learning, so that’s not new for us. We don’t like failing to meet our players’ expectations,” Hines responded. “At the same time, we are the same company that has had launches that didn’t go the way we wanted, and we don’t quit or abandon stuff just because it didn’t start right.”

Hines continued, referencing the fact that both Fallout 76 and the PC version of The Elder Scrolls Online were “not flawless” when they first released, going on to emphasize that both have ended up being popular games after receiving post-launch support.

“Redfall is no different for us,” he said. “Okay, we didn’t get the start we wanted, but it’s still a fun game… and we’re going to keep working on it. We’re going to do 60fps. We’re going to get it to be a good game because we know, as a first-party studio, that Game Pass lives forever. There will be people ten years from now who are going to join Game Pass, and Redfall will be there.”

For now, it remains to be seen whether or not Redfall will get to the point where it’s universally enjoyed amongst the gaming community, but, at least those who bought the game back at release might have something to look forward to.

If you’re looking for more games to play, be sure to check out our roundup of the best Xbox Series X games, as well as our recommendations for the best FPS games.