Microsoft Was “Stupid” To Close Arkane Austin And Lose Its Dream Team, Arkane Founder Says

Arkane founder Raphael Colantonio has commented on Microsoft shutting down Arkane Austin earlier this year, a decision the WolfEye Studios boss has labeled a “dumb move” made by the company. According to the veteran game developer, Arkane Austin was comprised of a “special” group of people who had the potential to make another hit game but never got the chance to do so following the poorly received Redfall.

“I think if you look a little bit, it’s obvious that Arkane Austin was a very special group of people that have made some cool things and that could pull it off again,” Colantonio said to PC Gamer. “Recreating a very special group like that is, I would dare to say, impossible. It takes forever. When you have that magic of Harvey [Smith] and Ricardo [Bare] that all come together, it’s a specific moment in time and space that just worked out this way, that took forever to reach. Those people together can really make magic. It’s not like, ‘Doesn’t matter, we’ll just rehire.’ No, try it. That’s what big groups do all the time. They try to just hire massively and overpay people to create those magic groups. It doesn’t work like this. So to me, that was stupid.”

Colantonio left the company he created after the release of the critically acclaimed Prey in 2017, citing creative differences in a separate PC Gamer interview. “All I can tell you is that part of the reason why I left Bethesda was that they did not want to do the kind of games that we wanted to make,” Colantonio said, explaining that Bethesda had decided to shift toward making more live-service games back then.

While Arkane Austin is no more, Deathloop developer Arkane Lyon is still in action and is currently working on Marvel’s Blade. Alpha Dog Games, Roundhouse Games, and Tango Gameworks were also shut down in May, but a few months later, PUBG publisher Krafton acquired the Hi-Fi Rush developer. A large number of employees have returned to Tango, and the studio is now working on Hi-Fi Rush 2, a game that Krafton doesn’t anticipate will be profitable but it still sees as essential for nurturing creativity in the industry.

In related news, Sony shut down developer Firewalk Studios this week, following the disastrous launch of its live-service game Concord in August. As a result of this, Concord has been permanently sunset.