Report: Dishonored studio Arkane Lyon faces closure in mid-November
According to Le Monde, a buyer must be found by 13 November, with 217 jobs at stake. Microsoft is seeking a partner for Marvel’s Blade.
Symbolic image · Photo: Smiley.toerist / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
French studio Arkane Lyon, known for Dishonored and Deathloop, faces closure if no buyer is found by 13 November, according to a report by the newspaper Le Monde. A union representative said that date marks the end of the consultation and negotiation period for a redundancy plan. Without an agreement, 217 jobs would be affected. The union says negotiations are going “badly” and is calling for the deadline to be extended.
Microsoft told Le Monde it continues to explore “different options” for Arkane and is actively seeking a partner to support the next phase of development and enable the commercialisation of Marvel’s Blade. According to the union, the action game announced in 2023 is nearly finished; if it never came out, it would be a “monumental waste”. According to IGN, a new reveal is planned for early 2027 and a release in the fourth quarter of 2027.
Microsoft had already announced Arkane Lyon’s departure from Xbox Game Studios earlier this year, along with other studios such as Double Fine and Ninja Theory. Microsoft closed sister studio Arkane Austin back in 2024 after the failure of Redfall.