Arkane Lyon gets one more month: Microsoft extends the consultation as it hunts for a Marvel's Blade partner

Arkane Lyon isn’t safe yet, but it just bought some time. Microsoft has extended the consultation over the future of the Dishonored and Deathloop studio by one month, pushing it past the November 13 deadline Le Monde had reported for finding a buyer.

”We have extended the consultation period by one additional month as we explore options, including finding a partner to support the studio through the development work still ahead,” a Microsoft representative told PC Gamer. That “work still ahead” is Marvel’s Blade, which Arkane Lyon revealed at The Game Awards in 2023 and which still has no release date.

How we got here: Arkane Lyon got swept up in this July’s Xbox layoffs. Because the studio is in France, Microsoft couldn’t simply shut it down. France’s Florange Law makes large companies look for a buyer before closing a site, so Xbox opened a formal consultation with the studio’s works council instead. According to Le Monde, management told employees on July 16 that Xbox intended to close the studio, and documents published in August describe a plan for “the complete and permanent cessation” of its activities and dismissal of all staff.

Microsoft says those papers “are part of the required consultation process and do not represent a final decision.” The Printemps Écologique and STJV unions had asked for exactly this extension so redundancy talks and the buyer search could continue. About 217 people work at the studio.

There’s also disagreement about how close Blade actually is. Union representatives say the game is nearing the end of production, while sources close to the studio told Le Monde it still has years to go. Either way, no partner has been named yet.

PPR take: Arkane makes the kind of immersive sims almost nobody else does. A month isn’t much, but it’s better than a November 13 cliff. We’ll keep watching for a buyer.