Redfall, the 2023 first person shooter developed by Arkane Austin and published by Bethesda Studios, just had its first year anniversary at the beginning of the month. It has since released its final update. With Arkane Austin being shut down by Xbox earlier this month, the vampiric shooter seemed doomed to swift death. Luckily the developers managed to crank out the final update and made it a major one. This final update, its fourth since launch, went live earlier today on May 30th.
Update 1.451.3.0, a nod to the 0451 number in immersive sims that is used to align with Looking Glass Studios whose catalog is seen as the foundation for immersion sims, is bringing a lot of changes to the game for the last update. The biggest one being an offline mode, the biggest ask from the player base. The single player mode will now allow for players to pause, in case they need a second to breathe between the scares.
The rewards for certain progression systems were also revamped, allowing for a more streamlined gaming experience. There is now a Community Standing level to take over from the neighborhood system. This standing can be upgraded by defeating bosses, acquiring new safe houses, and similar actions. There has also been the introduction of elder nests which function similarly to the existing heart nest mechanic. Fighting vampires in an arena style battle for rewards based on difficulty, but this time it’s bosses, or stronger vampire enemies, populating the arena. The buff for completing these arenas scales with their difficulty, and the harder the arena the longer the buff – heart shard – lasts.
It has been a rough year for video games, as the economic bubble created by the lockdown starts to burst and show its effects. Arkane Austin is one of a number of studios facing closures in the face of this change. However, Redfall seems fit to live on past Arkane’s closing, for a little longer at least. Hopefully the final Redfall update will allow players to enjoy the game long past the studio’s closing.