Bethesda has good news for fans that want crossplay for the upcoming open world co-op shooter, Redfall. The studio recently held an “Ask Arkane Q&A” on Discord where players could ask questions about Redfall ahead of the May 2 release.The question and answer was held on the Arkane Discord server following the announcement of Redfall’s release date. With the title being something of a departure from Arkane’s typical single player only immersive sim titles such as Dishonored and Prey, fans have a lot of questions. One such question was regarding the night cycle, asking how it will affect gameplay, given that the enemies will be vampires. Arkane confirmed that players will face different enemies during the day and still be able to make progress. One big question that many fans want the answer to regards crossplay.The answer to whether or not Redfall will support crossplay was also shared to the official Twitter page for the game. The question and answer were posted in a clear and bold image, with the added text “Crossplay confirmed between Xbox + PC Game Pass + Steam + Epic Game Store.” Players will be able to relax knowing that they can join their friends online no matter where they are playing Redfall. But some players are still not happy about the always online requirements of Redfall, given that it can be played in single player mode.
Twitter users seem to be split evenly, with some saying that the crossplay features are a “massive win” for vampire fans, celebrating that the crossplay extends across Steam and Epic, while others say that the always online features make it impossible for them to purchase, citing that they have given up other titles due to being always online. Other titles such as the Hitman World of Assassination trilogy have faced similar initial backlash for pushing online requirements for a single player experience. Hitman has been able to regain a lot of good faith over the years with many praising the gameplay, general game-feel, and the newest Hitman Freelancer mode.
It is worth noting that for the likes of Hitman, it took a few years and constant updates for the general opinion to pick up. It is also important to remember that for many people, a stable internet connection simply is not viable. Even though most contemporary media is moving toward online only features, such as streaming or cloud storage, a lot of people simply cannot afford to stay online, or even get a stable internet connection. Gaming has always been an expensive hobby, but with the move towards the always online experience - something that was deemed ludicrous not so long ago in the release of SimCity 2013 - as well as the continued rise in prices as seen in the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom price hike, it seems as though the hobby will keep getting more and more expensive. For those who are online, it will be a relief to know that Redfall will allow them to play with friends no matter which platform they are playing on.
Redfall releases for PC and Xbox Series X/S on May 2, 2023.
Source: Bethesda, via Twitter.