Microsoft Declared “No PS5” After Purchasing Redfall Studio, Developer States

Devel­op­er Arkane has com­ment­ed on changes its vam­pire game Red­fall went through once Microsoft bought stu­dio own­er Zen­i­Max. Speak­ing to IGN France (via IGN), direc­tor Har­vey Smith gave some insight on the “huge sea change” for Red­fall after Microsoft­’s acqui­si­tion, includ­ing the deci­sion to exclude the PlaySta­tion 5 in the game’s development.

“They said, ‘No PlaySta­tion 5. Now we’re gonna do Game Pass, Xbox, and PC,’ ” Smith said.

Microsoft announced its buy­out of Zen­i­Max back in Sep­tem­ber of 2020, com­plet­ing the acqui­si­tion in March 2021. Some sug­gest Arkane was work­ing on a PS5 edi­tion of Red­fall, which was can­celled after the buy­out, but Smith did­n’t admit this outright. 

Devel­op­ment on Red­fall began before the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic, pri­or to Microsoft­’s pur­chase of Zen­i­Max. It is entire­ly pos­si­ble a PS5 edi­tion of Red­fall was in the works, how­ev­er, it has yet to be confirmed.

Some are say­ing this makes Microsoft look bad, espe­cial­ly amid its pro­posed acqui­si­tion of Activi­sion Bliz­zard. It shows Microsoft took a for­mer­ly mul­ti­plat­form game devel­op­er and assigned them to a sin­gle con­sole plat­form. This could sway the minds of reg­u­la­tors, who are cur­rent­ly hav­ing issue with allow­ing this merg­er to through.

Smith said that Microsoft buy­ing thee stu­dio allowed Arkane to focus on few­er plat­forms and that Red­fall com­ing to Game Pass is a big deal, as it expands the game’s poten­tial audience.