Redfall "Looking Into" Removing Always-Online Requirement, Was Originally Slated For PS5 Release

In last month's Q&A, developer Arkane confirmed that Redfall's single-player mode would require being online to play. Per usual it wasn't the most popular decision, but one we've come to expect in this day and age. Fast-forward a month and now Arkane is looking to make a U-turn on that decision and are looking into removing the always-online requirement for single-player mode in Redfall.

According to Eurogamer, the developer is "working actively" to remove the single-player always online requirement.

"There are two ways developers could react to that, right?" Game Director Harvey Smith told Eurogamer. "They could say: 'Oh, my God, you're always online. If you get on your Steam, and it's not online, you freak out. If you get on your Xbox, and you can't get the latest patch, or see what your friends are doing, you freak out. You want to be always online!' But that response, I think, lacks empathy.

"There are people who live in places where there are outages or their broadband is shitty, or they're competing with their family members because their mum's streaming a movie or their brother's on another device. And so I think it is a legitimate critique."

Smith goes on to state that no promises are being made at this time regarding always being online in single-player, but they are trying to make the change.

Additionally, when speaking with IGN France, Smith confirmed that initial plans for the game did in fact include a release on the PlayStation 5, but those plans were scrapped when Mircosoft acquired Arkane and Bethesda's parent company Zenimax Studios. At that point, the focus was put on Xbox, PC, and Game Pass.

Redfall is scheduled to release May 2nd on Xbox X|S, PC, and Game Pass. As a brand new Game Pass subscriber I'm excited for Redfall and looking forward to trying a new game on the service.