Redfall developers begged Microsoft to come back and finish its last patch: 'I know we don't work here anymore, but can we please release this?'

Former leads at Arkane Austin have revealed that Microsoft allowed laid-off developers to return to the studio to finish and release Redfall's final major update, version 1.4. The cooperative shooter faced a difficult trajectory following its launch, which was panned both critically and commercially. One year after release, studio owner Microsoft announced it would be shutting down Arkane Austin.

Reflecting on the development cycle in an interview with The Game Business, former studio director Harvey Smith discussed how the team became swept up in the games-as-a-service model. Smith noted that development was further impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the great resignation, and various local crises in Texas, including fires, an ice storm, and other disruptions.

Despite the studio's closure and subsequent layoffs, Smith and production director Ben Horne still cared about the game and pleaded with Microsoft to let them finalize work already in the pipeline. "We finished the game and it was very poorly received. We then worked on it for a year. We patched thousands of bugs. We then got laid off, but we had in the pipe version 1.4. It was the one that fixed tons of stuff. So, we went to Microsoft and said, ‘I know we don’t work here anymore, but can we please release this?’" Smith stated.

According to the former developers, Microsoft permitted six or seven former employees to sign paperwork allowing them back into the building to release version 1.4. Ben Horne described the unique experience as feeling like "an achievement unlocked" in his career.