Vampire hunting first-person shooter Redfall didn’t exactly set the world on fire when it launched earlier this year, but despite low reviews and even lower player counts, developer Arkane Studios and Publisher Bethesda Softworks are continuing to stand by it. DLC is on the way for the embattled FPS, and most recently, a large patch has arrived to help fix some of the most desperate concerns about the game.
The patch, known as Update 2, adds a lot of stability and performance tweaks and accessibility upgrades, but also adds some new gameplay and combat options too. Perhaps most importantly, players with staked weapons can use them to take down Cultists and Bellwether enemies stealthily, giving more options to people who don’t want to just blast their way through encounters. If a-blastin’ you will go though, there’s now even more chance for you to do so. Enemy numbers have been increased across the open world, and so have ammunition pickups in certain areas, specifically early game area the Fire Station. Enemies are a bit smarter too, and will now reposition themselves to, er, avoid shooting each other in the back. That seems like the least they could do really, but who can fathom the thought patterns of vampires.
Refall launched in May 2023 to a pretty terrible reception. Not only was the game lacking in polish, but most reviewers found it to be a pretty lacklustre experience even outside of that. The game found a place on the Xbox Game Pass, effectively giving the game to millions of subscribers, but even with that, player numbers seem to be low. Player counts for other services aren’t available, but we know that the player counts on Steam are particularly low, with the game sometimes peaking at just six players — barely enough for a group within the game.
Despite this, Arkane and Bethesda are steadfast in their dedication to Redfall. DLC for the game is planned, and the prevailing attitude is that the Game Pass and continued support could end up rescuing the game. After all, Bethesda has form for this with the disastrous launch of Fallout 76, which somewhat dragged itself back from the dead with sustained updates and improvements. Bethesda has to be hoping Redfall will end up the same way.