Redfall co-director Harvey Smith thinks Arkane 'never should have been working on a games-as-a-service game'

"That was a game that did not come together, and we never should have been working on a games-as-a-service game, to be honest," says Harvey Smith, former creative director at Arkane Austin, now CEO of Black Pony Immersive. He is, of course, talking to us about Redfall—a rare black mark on Arkane's otherwise impressive record.

Redfall is a bit of a tragedy. Some of the most impressive game designers around, the masters of immersive sims, ended up working on a vampire-themed open-world multiplayer shooter. It was poorly received, and a year later Microsoft shut down Arkane Austin. Almost 100 people lost their jobs as a result. At the time, the team was still working hard to salvage it. Development then ceased, for the most part.

The developers "begged" Microsoft to let them come back and finish 1.4, and it actually happened. Despite being laid off, the devs briefly returned and finished the final...