Arkane’s upcoming vampire shooter Redfall (opens in new tab) puts a lot of emphasis on co-op multiplayer, but also supports solo play: The Steam (opens in new tab) page describes it as “an open world, single player and co-op FPS.” In case you’re not convinced, Pete Hines, Bethesda’s head of communications, also specifically stated that you can “play it alone.” Unfortunately, even playing solo, you still need to be online.
The “always online” requirement was revealed in a Redfall FAQ (opens in new tab), stating “single player and co-op require a permanent online connection.” That’s about as unambiguous as it gets: if you want to play, you have to be connected. You will also need to link with your Steam or Xbox user ID to play.
It may not seem like a big deal in this age of digital distribution and cloud gaming where it seems like everyone is constantly connected anyway. But some people still don’t have solid, reliable connections, and as someone who occasionally finds themselves in that position, I can tell you that it’s beyond frustrating – frankly, it’s absolutely irritating – to hear that you’ve lost your single player game cannot play. because your internet is going down.
The situation is better than a decade ago, when then-Xbox chief Don Mattrick received huge backlash for saying people dissatisfied with the Xbox One’s online requirements were welcome to stick with the Xbox 360 (opens in new tab). (The “candid feedback (opens in new tab)in response to Mattrick’s declining statement was so strong that Microsoft eventually dropped the requirement.)
But it still sucks for those in rural areas or with paid accounts, or anyone who doesn’t have the luxury of safely assuming their connection will always be there. Not to mention the principle: there’s just no good reason to require me to be connected to the internet to play a game on my own.
Redfall will undoubtedly lean heavily on the social element and that can definitely make for a better game, but it doesn’t have to be mandatory. I much prefer the approach of the game I’m currently playing, Weird West (opens in new tab), which is excellent and, somewhat ironically, designed by a few of Arkane’s founders: it offers an online mode that collects analytics data and enables “community events,” but you can turn it all off if you want. I play with it constantly connected, just for the record, but I really appreciate having the choice.
Arkane’s Redfall releases May 2 and will be available through Game Pass at launch.