“I Live In Constant Fear That People Are Going to Figure Out…” – Devs Confess That Redfall Co-Op Was ‘Inspired’ by D&D, Borderland, and Diablo

Arkane Studios, the team behind the development of their highly anticipated co-op game, Redfall shared some of their behind the scene secrets and admitted what their biggest inspirations were for the game. Arkane Studios is known for two of their critically acclaimed games, Dishonored and Prey. 

Redfall is not their first dip in the Co-Op games. Arkane’s first multiplayer game was 2019’s Wolfenstein: Young Blood and they polished their formula with 2021’s FPS, Deathloop. Redfall is shaping up to be the biggest Co-Op game for the studio and the expectations are truly high. So it wasn’t surprising that the studio had to take some inspiration from other great titles to create the best they possibly can. 

Developers reveal inspiration of Redfall to be D&D, Borderland, and more 

In a recent interview with GamesRadar+ the team of Redfall talked about how the games they create are heavily inspired by the games they have been playing together. They talked about how and when it came to developing their ‘co-op’ formula. They couldn’t help but take notes from the games that did it the best. 

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Ricardo Bare, the co-op creative director, said, “I can remember, as far back as working on Deus Ex – us as a group playing Diablo together, and then through the years then playing Diablo 2 together and then playing, you know, Borderlands…” He was reminiscent of how playing these games for fun as a team helped them understand how to craft a perfect co-op game.

While playing with these games, the idea of combining the best parts of them into a game of their own hit the team. But at first, they were very confused as Ricardo said, “And we were like, ‘How can we have our peanut butter and chocolate together?” Ricardo compared these games with peanut butter and chocolate and he made up his mind to find a way to mix these delicacies together to make the ultimate dessert. 

When talking about the main inspiration for Redfall’s co-op Studio Director Harvey Smith said, there was only one name in their heads, Dungeons & Dragons. Smith shared, “I live in constant fear that people are going to figure out that we’re just D&D players who think video games could be cooler and deeper,” According to Harvey, D&D is the best multiplayer game ever made and largely inspires him in his life and work. Even to this day, Harvey plays D&D with Ricardo to deepen their bonds and have some unfiltered fun together. 

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