Xbox apologises following Redfall's "disappointing" launch
Xbox boss Phil Spencer has apologised following the launch of Microsoft exclusive Redfall.
The shooter, developed by Arkane Austin, has faced a wave of criticism from reviewers and fans alike for bugs and technical issues, coupled with a perceived combination of a bland world and overused gameplay mechanics.
Responding to the poor reception to the game, which currently sits at a 59 score on Metacritic, Spencer told the Kinda Funny podcast: "To watch the community lose confidence, be disappointed, I'm disappointed. I'm upset with myself.
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"When a team like Rare wants to do Sea of Thieves, when a team like Obsidian wants to do Grounded, when Tango wants to go do Hi-Fi [Rush] when everybody probably thought they were doing The Evil Within 3, I want to give the teams the creative platform to go and push their ability, push their aspirations.
"But I also need to have a great selection of games that continue to come that surprise and delight our fans. We under-delivered on that and for that I apologise. It's not what I expect, not what I want. But it's ours to deliver."
Spencer also admitted to knowing that the console version of Redfall would only run at 30 frames-per-second when the initial trailers showed off smoother footage running at the 60fps of the PC version. He explained that they "have to be transparent" about that in the future, and promised an update is coming to console.
"The team at Arkane is on taking the near-term feedback, we're still working on the 60fps, we have a good timeline for that," he said.
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It's another blow for Microsoft, as it was announced this week as the tech giant's planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard King (publisher of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush) was blocked by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority.
If an appeal is unsuccessful, the standard protocol is to not allow another attempt for 10 years.
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