Summary
Xbox shut down four studios within Bethesda this week, includingPreydeveloper Arkane Austin. We know the team was working on aRedfallupdate to finally add offline play, but a new report claims it was also interested in developing a newDishonoredgame.
According toBloomberg, Arkane Austin wanted to go back to the studio’s roots by pitching a new single-player immersive sim game, potentially in the Dishonored series. Last year, during the FTC v Microsoft case over the Activision Blizzard King acquisition, it leaked thatBethesda was working on Dishonored 3- it’s unclear if this is connected to the pitch, a separate project, or if it has been scrapped amidst the studio shutting down.
The last Dishonored game launched in 2016, althoughDeathloop–which is set in the same universe–launched just three years ago.
The Evil WithinandGhostwire Tokyodeveloper Tango Gameworks was also closed down this week. Reportedly, it pitched a sequel toHi-Fi Rush, which would have meant hiring new staff. According to Bloomberg, Xbox Games Studios head Matt Booty and ZeniMax studios head Jiff Braff suggested this was the main reason for shuttering the two studios.
Arkane Austin Reportedly Wasn’t Shut Down Because Of Redfall
Contrary to the popular assumption, Redfall’s critical and commercial failure was not the reason behind Arkane Austin’s closing. Reportedly, ZeniMax and Xbox wanted to put more focus on less projects. “It’s hard to support nine studios across the world with a lean central team with an ever-growing plate of things to do,” Braff said in the town hall. “I think we were about to topple over.”
Because Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks had pitched expanding to develop sequels, they were reportedly shut down as this would have gone against the narrower focus Xbox wanted.
However, after shutting down Tango Gameworks allegedly for pitching a sequel that would require more staff, Booty said, “We need smaller games that give us prestige and awards” (as reported byThe Verge). In the past, Phil Spencer has described Hi-Fi Rush as a “smaller game”, and it has won awards, even coming home with a Game Award, Game Developers Choice Award, and BAFTA.
Dishonored
WHERE TO PLAY
In a phenomenal example of an immersive sim, Arkane Studios tells the story of Corvo the assassin in Dishonored. Betrayed and accused of murdering his Empress, Corvo needs to eliminate the key figures who actually staged this coup.
