Director of Deathloop at Arkane Lyon, Dinga Bakaba, expressed his feelings and disapproval of Xbox's decision to sunset four of its internal studios. Microsoft and Xbox caught the industry by surprise today when they announced the closure of Arkane Austin, known for Deathloop and Prey, Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, and Bethesda's mobile game team, Alpha Dog Games. Additionally, Xbox has folded Roundhouse Studios into the Elder Scrolls Online team, ZeniMax Online Studios. The Xbox community, affected developers, and the industry at large are left baffled at these unfortunate and puzzling studio cuts.

After directing Deathloop, one of 2021's most revered games, Dinga Bakaba has become the face of Arkane Lyon. He had been the spokesperson for the studio at events like E3 and The Game Awards from Deathloop's 2019 announcement to its awards run after releasing two years later. This most recent Game Awards saw Bakaba take the stage once more to celebrate the announcement of Lyon's exciting new game, Marvel's Blade. Compounded with its sister studio Arkane Austin's disappointing release of Redfall last summer and the huge buzz surrounding Lyon's upcoming Blade game, it can be argued that Arkane Lyon has become the more popular of the two Arkane teams in recent years, with Bakaba helming its latest projects.

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In the wake of Xbox's heartbreaking closure of four Bethesda studios, including Arkane Austin, Dinga Bakaba took to Twitter to criticize the decision. In a five-tweet thread, Bakaba addresses Microsoft and Xbox executives, reminding them of their responsibility that is taking care of their studios and supporting the creative minds that make them up, even in times of hardship. "You say we make you proud when we make a good game. Make us proud when times are tough. We know you can, we seen it before."

Arkane Lyon's Dinga Bakaba Shares Thoughts On Xbox's Recent Studio Closures

These last few years have been excruciating for AAA game developers as companies continue to lay off and shut down large swaths of the industry. Just last month, Take-Two Interactive let go of nearly all of Private Division's staff. Sony, EA, Microsoft, and Embracer Group have laid off thousands of employees in the past year alone. It's been a long time since Xbox has closed down a studio of its own. Toys for Bob, which Xbox had acquired as part of its Activision Blizzard buyout, just recently split from Microsoft to once again become independent. Many Xbox fans and gamers in general are now questioning the security of the studios and publishers Xbox has purchased since its buying spree began in 2018.

With these new Xbox closures and the unstable state of the industry at large, the future is uncertain for many of Xbox's first party studios moving forward. Even a studio like Tango Gameworks, which was responsible for one of 2023's very best games in Hi-Fi Rush, wasn't safe. Dinga Bakaba's team at Arkane Lyon is still up and running, continuing its work on Marvel's Blade. It's unknown when fans will learn more about the game, though it could potentially show face at Xbox's showcase on June 9.

Marvel's Blade

Marvel's Blade is in development at Arkane Lyon, which developed Deathloop and Dishonored. It is a mature single-player third-person adventure game set in Paris, where players take on the role of the titular and beloved comic book hero.

Developer(s)

Arkane Studios

Publisher(s)

Bethesda Softworks

Franchise

Marvel