Developers at Arkane Studios are reacting to the announcement of the shutdown of Arkane Austin, calling it “absolutely terrible”.
Deathloop directors Dinga Bakaba and Sebastien Mitton as well as Dishonored and Redfall director Harvey Smith took to Twitter/X to express their distress over the closure of Arkane Austin. Bakaba termed it as “absolutely terrible”, calling out executives and reminding them that video games are an entertainment/cultural industry, and their business as a corporation is to take care of their artists/entertainers and help them create value for them.
Bakaba asked corporations to not throw game creators into gold fever gambits, to not use them as strawmen for miscalculations/blind spots, and to not make their work environments “darwinist jungles”. He highlighted how game companies claim that developers make them proud when the latter make a good game. However, he suggested that it’s high time game companies make developers proud when times are tough. He believes that they can, and he mentioned seeing it before.
According to Bakaba, great teams are “sunsetting” before his eyes again, and he referred to it as a “gut stab”. He said that Arkane Lyon is safe, but also asked everyone to be tactful and discerning about all this, to respect affected folks’ voice, and to leave it room to be heard. He said that it’s their story to tell, and their feelings to express. He hopes that the community, especially fellow developers, will avoid reductive statements like “immersive sim curse” and focus on the real challenges instead of “rehashing irrational anxieties of the past”.
Meanwhile, Mitton termed the shutdown of Arkane Austin as a “very, very bad” wake-up call. He shared a thought for his fellow developers working in Texas, Canada and Japan at the now closed studio, who are undoubtedly going through a very difficult time. He said that his heart goes out to all of them in this terrible ordeal.
Smith expressed his fondness for all the people at Arkane Austin. He mentioned both great and hard times that the development team went through together. He said that the news of the studio’s closure is terrible for everyone. He added that the development team’s talent will lift them up, and that he will do anything he can to help.
