Redfall Backlash Explained & PS Plus Gets New Games | GameSpot News

This week was packed with Redfall backlash, PlayStation Plus announcements and massive hype over new looks at Tears of the Kingdom and Final Fantasy 16. Let's recap.

By Ben Janca on April 14, 2023 at 2:27PM PDT

This week was packed with Redfall backlash, PlayStation Plus announcements and massive hype over new looks at Tears of the Kingdom and Final Fantasy 16. Let's recap.

On Wednesday, April 12, Redfall developer Arkane Austin confirmed the upcoming vampire-hunting adventure will launch with Quality Mode only on Xbox Series X|S. This means that the game will be hard-locked to 30 frames per second as a high resolution is prioritized; 4K on Xbox Series X and 1440p on Xbox Series S.

The dev went on to reveal that the game will receive a Performance mode option in a later update, but unfortunately a release window was not given.

The news caused huge discussions across the web that ranged from civil conversations to toxic behavior and console war baiting.

But regardless of which threads you pay attention to, the major takeaway is that performance mode is generally favored amongst gamers, especially for fast-paced shooters. This echoed in a poll from Jeff Grubb as well as the comment section to a GameSpot News episode in which I asked about quality vs performance before this news was revealed.

At this point in the lifecycle of the Series consoles, 60 frames per second feels like the new standard. Is 30 frames the end of the world? No. Will it make a fun game boring? No. However it is a bummer to know you own what is marketed as the most powerful console, yet you’re locked at last-gen frame rate for the time being on a major first party AAA release.

However it's important to keep in mind that game dev is complicated and the scope of the sandbox that Redfall takes place in could be one of the reasons why resolution is being favored over frame rate. In a previous interview, creative director Harvey Smith also mentioned that the game was developed under COVID-19 pandemic challenges and frequent power outages.

If you’ve had your eye on Redfall, hit the comments and let me know if you’re still excited for the game’s release in May or if the latest updates on it have killed your enthusiasm.

For those of you that only have a PlayStation, you weren’t going to be playing Redfall anyway, so what can you play soon? This week Sony announced the addition of 16 games to its PlayStation Plus Game Catalog. Headlining the new selection for PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers is Kena: Bridge of Spirits, 2022's delightful action-adventure in which you take on shaman duties and grow a small tribe of adorable creatures to help you solve puzzles.

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deactivated-64a3ced8b46b8

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As soon as Performance mode becomes available, I'll give it a spin.

Upvote • 2 years ago

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Edited By Just1MoHr

Really? Just when you think it cannot get worst or MS will not continue its spiraling trend, along comes something like this.

I am rooting like hell & fighting to stay hopeful, but honestly I just cannot anymore. I just don't understand though, how can this be with all the resources MS has? Seems like MS employees are quiet quitting?

My poor Rare too, every time I think of them I am saddened.

Maybe during this next reveal we will get a plethora of great games...there it is, I am doing it again!

Upvote • 2 years ago

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Edited By darkelf83

"However it's important to keep in mind that game dev is complicated and the scope of the sandbox that Redfall takes place in could be one of the reasons why resolution is being favored over frame rate"

This is BS, not one of the gameplay trailers showed graphical fidelity that suggests it needs 30 fps. I find it hard to believe that the underlying systems are to much for the Series X. Xbox should have given that studio more resources and time. But as they'll find out under Xbox, management doesn't care and doesn't know what they're doing. This is why the Series X flagship title came out like a 360 game.

3 • 2 years ago

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If all else fails blame Covid? It's still a relevant reason right? uuuhhhh right?

I'm ready to start hearing about refreshes from these consoles. Sony better find a shrink ray for the upgrade while they're at it.

3 • 2 years ago

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@wahsobe: They just might. Apparently all of MS' upcoming major titles are facing serious production issues.

Upvote • 2 years ago

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@Barighm: Uuughhh, I'm done with delays and lack of heavy hitters from both of these parties.

I'm also irritated about the lack of investment into mod support on the Xbox. They started talking it up years ago and then later kind of said yah we're working on it. Eventually a few games did a decent job of adding it even if it wasn't up to PC quality (not that anyone would expect it to be) but then even the conversations long since vanished.

My far fantasy would be a teamup collab console from Steam and Xbox. You take Steams mod support and Xpadder like Gamepad support and combine it on console with what the Xbox offers and I'd be one happy gamer.

With titles like AOE 2 on console and 4 on it's way I'm one step closer to dropping my PC's out of the equation. If you could get me titles like Starcraft, Homeworld, Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance, The gamut of Command and Conquer titles all with full K&M support on console I would probably consider my current PC's my last PC's. As is I've just been upgrading them with scraps for over a decade. Mod support would then be my last remaining hurdle.

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Edited By illegal_peanut

Multiplayer FPS game about killing vampires. A mythological creature is known for its speed and swiftness. Runs at 30fps...

I would get the PC copy instead of the Xbox one. But PC parts have been so ass nowadays. I might just pick this game up in 2026.

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Edited By deactivated-64efdf49333c4

It's not that "complicated". New GPUs and Unreal 5.2 are prompting devs to develop their games in engines that require far better specs than 3 year old hardware locked consoles can handle, thus prompting the very predictable and inevitable drop in performance to 30fps...like it always has. The only reason games have managed to push 60fps longer than usual this gen is because of a 2 year shortage and most games being developed for last gen. Now that the supply shortage has ended, we're starting to see proper current gen games...oh, look, they're locked at 30fps.

4 • 2 years ago

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Edited By BDRTFM

I don't recall anyone specifically saying the reason for having performance mode later on was because the Xbox can't handle 60fps for this game. And, again, the performance mode is forthcoming so people need to freaking relax.

3 • 2 years ago

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@bdrtfm: Naw, people need to grill Xbox for not properly supporting their new studios. Sony does an amazing job helping first and third party studios push the PS. It's more mismanagement more than anything else. Phil talks a big game but all he can do is flex MS's wallet to buy content.

2 • 2 years ago

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Edited By BDRTFM

@darkelf83: LOL. Yeah, cuz Sony doesn't throw money around buying content. MS may rush the odd game out the door like Sea of Thieves but that's because they don't rely on buying or blocking 3rd party games and content from PlayStation like Sony does with Xbox so they need to move their internal studios a bit faster. Microsoft said they won't make deals for 3rd party content anymore and the haven't. Hence the reason for acquiring more studios. Sony buys double, maybe even triple the amount of 3rd party games to make exclusive than they produce internally. Infinite was in development for over 5 years and MS held off the release and went without it as a launch title to give 343 another year to polish it up and, after 6 years or so, it was still a shit launch so I don't think lack of time was the issue.

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Edited By darkelf83

@bdrtfm: The odd game huh? What happened to Halo? They never even bothered to fully feature it. Their flagship title is left unfinished. Lack of management and support. Time would have been another 2 years plus.

Way to deflect, nobody brought up exclusives. I was talking development support on titles that come out on both systems. But since you brought it up, how about MS disclose all of the documents that they have been asked for? You do know MS has been hit a number of times with breaking their contracts and agreements right?

2 • 2 years ago

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Edited By BDRTFM

@darkelf83: Time would have been another two years plus? It takes an average of 3 years to make a video game like HALO. They gave them 5. They then gave them an additional year after those 5 years. If 343 couldn't make a decent game after 6 years, again, no amount of extra time would have helped. There's a reason MS is moving things around with their developers internally. 343 dropped the ball yet again. When MS was paying the bills for HALO Combat Evolved, HALO 2, HALO 3 etc. under Bungie, the games managed to be made in 3 years or so and they were excellent quality. The only thing that's changed is the studio making the game, not the Publisher. So in all probability, the developer is the likely problem. Which is why 343 will be playing a smaller role in future HALO games.

You make it sound as if MS is in complete disarray because one of their studios dropped the ball on one of their games but seem to forget about the disaster launch of TLOU for PC. The game was completely unplayable at launch for millions of people and still is for many. No mismanagement there though, right? It's all the developer's fault and has nothing to do with Sony, right?

Also, the reason I brought up exclusives is because you said MS throws money around and then said Sony gives 3rd party devs better support. Why do you think they do that? To keep games and other content off of Xbox by paying for exclusivity, that's why - either timed or permanently. Just because something that happens to be an important part of a discussion wasn't mentioned by you first doesn't make it deflection. It means one of us sees a bigger picture than the other.

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Ah,many "die hard" Xbox fans wanted a smooth launch of Redfall so they have better ammo in fanboy talks heh

Redfall will be eventually fine but MS/Xbox has to make it sure their 1st party games launch without hickups.
1st impressions are important and Xbox games are taken under magnificient glasses and gaming sites gladly use it for their engagement traffic in comments and clicks.

So,after Redfalls non 60fps launch is forgotten,we have Starfields story of running(or not running) 60fps.
The most powerfull console cant run their 1st party game on 60fps...i see already the headlines.
Aaaaand,if it runs 60fps, ppl find other stuff to moan about lol (why is not every of the millions of planets handcrafted?)

2 • 2 years ago

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@sladakrobot: if starfield isnt 60 fps i am throwing out my xbox

Upvote • 2 years ago

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You nailed it! Maybe it's time for a "Pro" version console...

Upvote • 2 years ago

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Edited By deactivated-64a860a062bda

The Xbox Series consoles aren't the most powerful in the market, PS5 has long proven to be more powerful. Secondly, with Xbox factually being a 3rd party, they're never going to use the power of the Series X... This is why PlayStation fans (correctly) lament crossgen gaming; it holds back current gen games.

3 • 2 years ago

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@reznik00: PS5 is not the most powerful console, but it does seem to have more games that perform better on it than on Xbox. This is because the way the PS5 uses its RAM like VRAM is similar to the way recent AMD CPUs use their 3D VCache tech which allows those CPUs to perform WAY above their class. It doesn't work with every game, but it works more often than not. See here for how 3D Vcache makes such a huge difference.

2 • 2 years ago

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@reznik00: dude xboxes are more powerful in most regards. but xbox still suck at making consoles and games.

xbox will own sony in a few gens tho. MS simply has more money to throw at it.

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Edited By deactivated-64efdf49333c4

@nilsdoen: That's pretty much how MS operates, yes. Wouldn't be surprised if the big names in gaming in the future were dominated by the likes of Steam, Amazon, Google, etc.

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Edited By NilsDoen

@Barighm: gaming industry too big and too lucrative for not being eaten up by the ones with the most to invest

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@reznik00:
"PS5 has long proven to be more powerful."

Why stop there,feel free to point us to these long known and verified proofs.

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@sladakrobot: It hasn't; however, there have been explanations explaining why it routinely seems to be optimized better. One reason is supposedly the PS5's SSD is twice as fast as the xbox's, but you generally don't notice because of parity; however, the PS5 uses its RAM similar to Vcache in some respects. See my post above about why 3D Vache makes such a huge difference.

2 • 2 years ago