Xbox is making big changes, which we hear will be rolling out in full this Monday.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has been saying for weeks that Xbox studios needed a “reset”. As Microsoft’s gaming empire struggles in the new economy, Xbox is making various layoffs, sales, and potential team mergers to reduce costs. Undead Labs, Double Fine, Compulsion and other studios are reportedly in talks. About what their future looks like with Xbox, and for some, that future may be bleak in the short term.
The Verge He stated that one of these studios ready for negotiations is Arkane Studios. currently working on Marvel’s Blade. Arkane is known for Dishonored and Death Loop, but has arguably struggled to find a foothold under Microsoft. Knife was a chance to change that, but a report from The Verge suggested that Microsoft was indeed considering closing the studio.
This latest update shows that Microsoft has found an alternative way.
He saw Timur222 in X early this morning, iMachineGames co-founder and studio director Jerk Gustafsson has apparently taken over the reins of Arkane Studios. Arcane’s president, Leonard Bendel, has resigned. The change of leadership took place a few days ago, on June 30 legal notice On the French corporate information site Pappers.fr.
Indeed, at least from me I’ve heard there are no plans to actually end development on Bladealthough there is clearly some major potential restructuring going on here.
Arkane is based in France and MachineGames is based in Sweden. Microsoft invests in MachineGames After the success of Indiana Jones, but also based on its popularity Wolfenstein franchise. Indeed, Microsoft is actually developing a TV show based on Wolfenstein With the makers of Fallout TV for Amazon – it fits well with Asha Sharma’s trans-media vision for Xbox. According to our sources, Wolfenstein 3 is being produced with this goal in mind, with the goal of the TV show and the game complementing each other in a Fallout TV style.
It remains to be seen what this leadership change will mean for Arkane overall. Xbox is expected to join Microsoft in massive layoffs from Monday of next week. Windows, Azure, etc. Each studio and team can be affected more broadly, as are the teams across the board.
Could this change in leadership indicate that Arkane intends to merge with MachineGames to form a larger overall studio? Is Jerk Gustafsson promoted with the intention of the studios to stay apart? It’s hard to say for sure at the moment. Given the holiday weekend in the United States, I doubt we’ll get a comment from Microsoft anytime soon.
Anyway, I choose to take this as a positive sign for Blade and Arkane, despite rumors of its potential closure.
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