Arkane Studios has been in the spotlight as of late with its upcoming Xbox console exclusive Redfall. After the critically acclaimed release of Deathloop in 2021, the development teams in Lyon and Austin appear to be hard at work on their respective, upcoming projects for the first time completely under Microsoft's ownership. Reflecting on Deathloop's success, fans might expect a follow-up sooner rather than later, and what makes it even more exciting is that this original title actually exists in Arkane's beloved Dishonored universe.
After players noticed a few Easter eggs from past games, there was direct confirmation from studio heads Dinga Bakaba and Harvey Smith that Deathloop shares the same setting as the Dishonored timeline. This revelation could lead players to speculate just how Deathloop might go forward alongside legacy material in a sequel; this connection has a lot of potential in bringing narrative influences from the 2012 immersive sim to future titles in a more pronounced manner.
Dishonored Mission Hubs in Deathloop
Over the course of a day on Deathloop's island of Blackreef, assassination targets lead protagonist Colt Vahn into several different regions which transform through time and circumstance. The loop ends if the player fails, but they can then make subsequent runs more efficient when learning abilities and strategies. Setting a dynamic stage for spectacular stealth-action antics, Blackreef served as an atmospheric location for Deathloop, and its echoes of Dishonored's assassination set pieces resonated with many Arkane fans in a new way.
If Deathloop is going to continue experimenting with chronology and combat mechanics, a new project should build experiences that enable player agency in a robust storyline. Dishonored set a wonderful precedent for mission design, guiding players in a journey where every consequence felt palpable as Dunwall's districts succumbed to a catastrophic plague. These long-term narrative developments may provide greater impact in a possible Deathloop sequel, and it could also be further informed by the first game's time loops and pacing.
How Arkane Studios chooses to approach its next title will be crucial if there is an intention to meld elements from Dishonored into Deathloop. Stealth, supernatural powers, and active AI are already shared features in these titles, and there is an accepted overlap in appeal. The team's games are unique in how they offer freedom to players through environments that are primed for volatile interactions, so one would hope that future projects continue to maintain the relevance of its dynamic worlds like Redfall in 2023.
Deathloop Sequel May Continue the Lore of Dishonored
After the 2017 release of Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, the IP was left in a place of uncertainty in terms of worldbuilding and interest. This uncertainty was not necessarily a result of any degradation in quality, although these canon connections suggest that Deathloop could match Dishonored's timeline to renew its themes with a fresh set of ideas. The groups within the Empire of the Isles, in addition to the geography of Dishonored's world, might be a set of possible options to contextualize new stories as these fictional cultures develop over time.
Fans can observe a clear lineage between games, so it would be exciting to imagine how Arkane may embrace the supernatural conspiracies of the original games with a sequel to Deathloop. Leveraging concepts like the Void, and then transporting that into Dishonored's future, might be a route to bend the fabric of this universe in ways that other franchises cannot. Players that enjoy both styles of games could be in for a treat as long as Arkane Studios continues to be daring in its goal to immerse them in fantastic settings that are reactive and artistically inspired.
Deathloop is available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
