First Look: Arkane Studios Austin's Redfall

When a developer like Arkane Studios Austin goes quiet about a mystery project, you expect a big announcement. Well, the local office for French game pros Arkane Studios definitely took a big bite out of the Microsoft presentation at this weekend's E3 with the first trailer for their new title, Redfall, coming to Xbox and PC next year.

The cinematic tease (no gameplay yet) promises a change from the old stalk 'em and stake 'em kind of vampire killing. Instead, it's a hi-tech adventure, where players can take on one of four characters in this open world co-op first person shooter. They can choose between paranormal investigator Devinder Crousley, combat engineer Remi de la Rosa, sharpshooter Jacob Boyer, and the first character in the trailer, biomedical engineer (and superpowered telekinetic) Layla Ellison.

But it's not just the players who will be tooled up with a mixture of magic and near-future tech: the vamps themselves are the result of an experiment gone wrong, and the resident of Redfall, Mass., have either become lunch or members of the vampire cult. Four against the Apocalypse? Sure, why not.

Founded in 2006, Arkane Studios Austin is best known for its involvement in the Dishonored franchise, and has been developing Redfall while the original office in Lyons has been working on the upcoming Deathloop, which they plan to become a Dishonored-style franchise. Redfall is currently scheduled to be published in 2022 through longtime studio partners Bethesda, and will be available on Xbox Game Pass from day one.

Arkane is currently hiring a wide array of staff, including character animation, gameplay, AI, and graphics engineers, as well as a senior environment artist. Check out the vacancies at www.arkane-studios.com.