Redfall on Metacritic gathered scores of 56% (PC) and 59% (Xbox Series X|S), which ultimately surprised even Microsoft. Phil Spencer confirmed that the company prepares internal mock reviews for each game, and during testing, the Arkane Studios title received much higher scores:
“We do mock reviews for every game that we launch, and [in the case of Redfall – ed.] it is double digits below where we thought we would be with this game. That is one of the disappointing things: we would never strive to put out a game that was in the 60% range. We have a different goal.”
The head of the Xbox brand emphasized that Microsoft’s previous games had received higher scores:
“If you look at our scores over the past year, and this is by no means a defense, I think the teams have done a much better job of raising the quality of the games we released… and this product is significantly below our internal estimates compared to the reviews it received. But there is no one to blame but ourselves – we have to own up to it.”