The Texas development studio Arkane Austin has closed. Now it is reported that one could imagine creating a new “Dishonored”.
Microsoft made big headlines this week. The Redmond company has announced that some studios will be closed. In addition to Tango Gameworks (“Hi-Fi Rush”, “The Evil Within”), Arkane Austin, among others, was also closed.
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Arkane Austin is the developer of “Redfall” and “Prey”. Both titles failed to meet ZeniMax's commercial expectations. The cooperative vampire shooter in particular was punished with negative reviews from the trade press, resulting in an average rating of 57 points.
Arkane Austin project didn't go beyond pitch
Nevertheless, the development studio did not expect that the plug would suddenly be pulled. That's what we had according to a new one Bloomberg report already busy with the pitch of a new project.
Accordingly, Arkane Austin wanted to go back to the roots and create a new immersive simulation for single player. Among other things, a new “Dishonored” part would have been possible, as sources close to the studio reveal.
However, that was never to happen. Before Microsoft could give the green light to a corresponding project, they had already decided to close Arkane Austin. But Matt Booty, the head of Xbox Game Studios, emphasized in a town hall meeting that the studio closure was not related to the commercial and critical failure of “Redfall.”
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Instead, in cooperation with ZeniMax, they decided to reduce the number of studios. They wanted to concentrate on fewer, larger projects because managing all nine studios was becoming too much for the central team. The challenges of global game development continue to grow and ZeniMax was on the verge of collapse.
Arkane Austin wanted to hire new employees to realize the next project. And this, according to Booty, was ultimately the remaining stone that could have brought down the house of cards. That's why the affected development studios were closed.
The closure of Arkane Austin particularly affected Arkane Lyon's French colleagues. Harvey Smith and Dinga Bakaba spoke of this as a “Stab in the stomach” be. Smith also contacted the affected employees promisedthat he will do everything he can to help them in their future.
More news about Arkane Studios.
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