Redfall Gets Extended World Exploration Trailer; Dev: Co-Op Is Untethered, Setting is Arkane’s Most Ambitious

At IGN Fanfest 2023, Arkane Studios brought a new extended gameplay and world exploration trailer for Redfall, its upcoming open world first-person shooter with optional co-op for up to four players.

Beyond delivering the new footage, the developer also let Production Designer Ben Horne talk about Redfall. Speaking of co-op, Horne said it will be untethered, meaning that players will be free to go wherever they want independently of each other. However, they will lose a buff if they don’t stay close.

It’s a really, really cool system that allows players to be expressive with how you wanna play with your friends. You don’t have to be all locked together if you don’t want. But there is a benefit. We kind of encourage people to come together.

Horne then claimed Redfall is the biggest and most ambitious setting Arkane has ever made.

We knew that with that, we wanted to maintain the things about Arkane’s DNA that we love, things about our games in the past that we really appreciate: environmental storytelling, strong kind of narrative through-put in the world so the world feels lived-in, feels worth saving. And so, as we took on this challenge to make such a huge open world, we wanted to make sure that every home that players walked into, or convenience store, had readables.

There will be thousands of readable notes and logs, according to the Production Designer, which should please those players looking to be fully immersed in the lore.

Redfall takes place on the titular fictional island in Massachusetts, United States, where a legion of vampires borne out of a science experiment gone wrong has blocked out the sun and cut off the population from the outside world. Players will be able to pick their survivor from a team of four, each equipped with different weapons and abilities, and either tackle the vampires solo (in what would be a classic Arkane experience, according to the developers) or group up with friends.

At least two future heroes have been confirmed to be coming post-launch. Redfall will be released on May 2nd for PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store) and Xbox Series S|X; like all Microsoft and Bethesda games nowadays, it will be available from day one to Game Pass subscribers.