Xbox exec tries to put out an increasingly volatile fire, promising to improve Microsoft’s latest AAA flop

Xbox CEO Phil Spencer has finally responded to the tumultuous release of Redfall, and he wants gamers to know he’s just as disappointed as they are.  

Redfall hit shelves and consoles worldwide on May 2 to mixed — mostly negative — reviews. The Microsoft exclusive was plagued by a litany of issues. From glitches and game-breaking bugs to the broken promise of higher frame rates, the undercooked title brought down a horde of angry fans demanding an explanation — and in extreme cases, calling for Spencer’s firing.

In an interview with Kinda Funny Games, Spencer addressed the Redfall debacle, saying it was disappointing on many levels.

“There’s nothing that’s more difficult for me than disappointing the Xbox community and watching the community lose confidence, [and] be disappointed.” He went on, “I’m disappointed, I’m upset with myself.”

It wasn’t empty platitudes and groveling, however. While Spencer may be upset with how fans reacted to the title, he really isn’t apologizing for how it was received. He spoke about the technical issues, saying that though they are prevalent, Xbox’s telemetry reports showed the glitches, bugs, and crashing errors all at normal and acceptable levels.

Bugs and glitches are a part of any online rollout. The size and scope of today’s games simply don’t afford AAA developers the luxury of creating a “perfect game” anymore. That isn’t to say that studios should get a free pass when it comes to these issues, especially when games are now arriving with $70 price tags. But there does need to be a middle ground struck.

When Xbox announced the delay of Halo Infinite back in 2021, fans lost their minds. Gamers were furious. When Redfall’s — along with Starfield’s — release was delayed until 2023, fans were again furious. It seems there isn’t a way for studios to react without fan fury breaking hard against their shore. Now that Redfall is here, fans are saying it should have been delayed again, though Spencer says his team couldn’t have delayed long enough to repair what Redfall was missing.

Beyond the glitches, reviews for Redfall focused heavily on how the latest Arkane title wasn’t like the ones that came before. Critics honed in on the “empty feeling” of the levels, saying that the overall product wasn’t as rich as Dishonored or Deathloop. One even used Arkane’s well-known dislike of conventional level layout items — like ladders — against Redfall when the movement staple appeared scattered throughout the world.

This criticism received an outright rebuke from Spencer, who said, “One thing I won’t do is push against the creative aspirations of our teams.” He refuses to trap creatives in a box. It’s refreshing to hear, honestly, to know that at least one CEO won’t force teams to make carbon copies of games with proven track records. And he knows it may hurt Microsoft again in the future. “I wanna give the teams the creative platform to go and push their ability, push their aspirations.”

Arkane Austin wanted to make this game, and Spencer gave the team the go-ahead to try something outside of their wheelhouse. Former PC Gamer editor, Gary Whitta, expanded on this idea during the interview, saying that when new creative ideas fail, it hurts every aspect of the game development community. “It makes it that much harder for the… creative decision makers to take a chance,” he said.  

Once a game is as close to release as Redfall was — and as far from the mar­­k it wanted to hit — no amount of delay can save it. Clearly, fans didn’t feel the creative energy behind the concepts in Redfall. No amount of fine-tuning could possibly make up for the lack of wonder that a good game should give on a first impression. Spencer summarized it well, saying, “This is one where the team didn’t hit their own internal goals when it launched.”

Maybe that’s the real shame here. Whatever Arkane Austin and Microsoft were trying to do didn’t come across in the execution. Spencer doesn’t think that the crash rates or bugs are anything out of the ordinary for a game of this size — certainly not enough to delay. He’s not denying that they exist — simply that they’re not the main issue.

He’s right. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was much more buggy than Redfall, but it still fulfilled its creative vision. The fun was there, and it was executed in a much more noticeable way. Despite the bad rollout, Microsoft has one thing going for it that many other publishers don’t: a continued source of income so they can keep improving the title. The team is taking the feedback and is working within a timeline to remedy the known issues with Redfall.

Microsoft has a fairly decent track record with improving undercooked games available through Game Pass. Sea of Thieves, Fallout 76, and Grounded are examples that, when it comes to these perpetual co-op games, Microsoft is committed to improving the experience for players. Spencer is acutely aware of Xbox’s precarious position at the bottom of the console war hierarchy, and he’s prepared to try whatever he can to set Microsoft apart from the crowd. From Game Pass to creative gambles that don’t quite pay off, Spencer is willing and able to allow developers to try their hand at something new — if it means players get to reap the benefits.

With Starfield set to release Sep. 6, 2023, let’s hope the creative vision is there and that Microsoft applies some of its hard-learned lessons from Redfall.