Bethesda’s Push For Live Service Games Is Why Arkane’s Founder Left

If you’re wondering how Arkane, the developer known for Prey and Dishonored, ended up with such a problematic launch of the vampire FPS Redfall, we now have an answer. Although, we’re not sure that the answer will be all that much of a surprise to anyone. A recent PC Gamer interview with Arkane founder Raphael Colantonio addresses the circumstances that led to the game’s production and subsequent failure – which later resulted in Microsoft's closure of the studio.

According to Colantonio, he left Arkane in 2017 because of Bethesda making changes to Arkane’s creative direction following the launch of Prey. The game didn’t hit in the way that Bethesda was hoping, so – as Colantonia puts it - the publisher “did not want to do the kind of games that [Arkane] wanted to make”. Arkane’s approach was similar to Larian and FromSoftware’s in that they wanted to keep doing what they were best at until it really hit, but Bethesda decided that wasn’t working for them.

Instead, Bethesda wanted live service games, which is what would end up producing Redfall. As Colantonio had left Arkane prior to Redfall’s development, his knowledge of the exact workings past Bethesda’s desire for live service games is limited. This means he can’t state exactly what went awry. He does however list several things that impact a game’s development process from management and budget to changes in the market or even losing a developer. Again, none of this is terribly surprising.