Redfall Studio’s Latest Job Posting Hints at a Return to Single-Player Games

Redfall‘s launch on Xbox Series X/S and PC earlier this year will surely go down as one of the most disappointing game releases in 2023. The vampire-based first-person shooter was set to be a new direction for Arkane Austin, the studio behind 2017’s Prey. Unfortunately, Redfall did not live up to expectations after the team’s last game, leaving many fans upset at the direction the studio took with it. Now, it looks like Arkane Austin might be looking to get back to its roots, as a new job posting seems to indicate that whatever comes after Redfall will be squarely focused on single-player games.

The job posting was originally spotted by IdleSlot84_ on Twitter, who noticed a new post on the Zenimax Jobs page for a lead technical engineer at Arkane Austin. The post seems pretty boilerplate at first, asking for someone who can “lead a team of talented engineers in developing AAA games for PC and console systems.” However, under the “Preferred Skills” section it lists “familiarity with single player action-RPGs and immersive sims.” The key word there is single-player, as it hints that Arkane Austin isn’t going to chase the games-as-a-service business model with its next endeavor, instead sticking more closely to what’s worked in the past.

Of course, this news isn’t too surprising. Reports coming out after Redfall‘s launch claimed that some developers at the studio wanted to cancel the game because they were unhappy with its performance. After just a few weeks, there were claims that Arkane was already moving on to its next game instead of trying to salvage the vampire shooter. In just about every respect, it seemed like Arkane Austin was trying to do everything it could to make it seem like Redfall barely ever existed.

While we likely won’t see the fruits of whatever this new job is for quite some time, it is good to see Arkane Austin keep on trucking. Sure, Redfall wasn’t what the studio was hoping for, but Prey was a very successful entry into the immersive sim genre. Hopefully, whatever they do next will get Austin back to its roots, making high-quality, single-player adventures.