Arkane director Harvey Smith confirmed that the team initially planned to launch Redfall on PlayStation 5 as well as Xbox, but when Microsoft acquired Bethesda, those plans were cancelled."We were acquired by Microsoft and it was a change with [a] capital C," Smith told IGN France. "They came in and they said 'No PS5, we're focusing on Xbox, PC, and the Game Pass." Redfall started development a year before Microsoft bought out Bethesda (and thus Arkane), and evidently, there were no deals in place as there were with Deathloop which was a timed PlayStation exclusive.
Smith clarified, however, that he doesn't think the PS5 cancellation is a bad thing, but rather that it might benefit Redfall and, by extension, Arkane. "It's not very serious, it's even a good decision I think," Smith said. "[It helps to] support Game Pass and have one less platform to worry about... Game Pass has a ton of players, [so Redfall] could become our biggest game".
Redfall won't be the first Arkane game on Game Pass, with much of Bethesda's backlog being added following the acquisition. We saw Prey, The Evil Within, Skyrim, Oblivion, Dishonored, and eventually Deathloop all added to the service, but this will be Arkane's first Game Pass launch. That means you can pick it up day one without paying anything extra, making it much more likely to boost the number of players who decide to try it out.
It's likely that other Bethesda games were initially set to launch on PS5 before the buyout, though until developers like Harvey Smith reveal what went on behind the scenes, all we can do is speculate. Maybe Starfield was once set to land on the PS5 before the acquisition.