Xbox’s latest day of reckoning is here and it’s grim, but the future for beloved immersive sim maker Arkane Lyon is still unclear. Negotiations are currently underway with the French studio’s worker council to hash out the details of a possible closure or sale. Amidst the bleak outlook, including for Arkane’s upcoming action game, Marvel’s Blade, the studio’s founder has asked Xbox’s CEO a simple question: “how much?”
That was Raphael Colantonio’s response to Asha Sharma’s layoff memo today on social media. “Regarding Arkane… how much? I’m asking for a friend,” he wrote alongside a joking face emoji. Colantonio founded Arkane Lyon back in 1999, co-directed Dishonored with Harvey Smith and directed Prey, and left the studio in 2017. He’s since formed a new game company called WolfEye Studios, released a new immersive sim called Weird West in 2022, and is now working on a second game.
If Colantonio was a serious buyer, or knew investors who were, a deal probably would have been hashed out already behind closed doors rather than on X. But given how online Xbox’s current leadership is, well, stranger things could happen.
Regarding Arkane… how much? I’m asking for a friend 😝
— Raphael Colantonio (@rafcolantonio) July 6, 2026
Marvel’s Blade was announced back in 2023 and hasn’t been seen since. When it was absent from the Xbox summer showcase in June, chief content officer Matt Booty suggested it could pop up at a later showcase instead. We now know that if that happens, it will be because a different company has signed on to complete the comic book action game’s development and ship it. The Verge reported last week that the game has been delayed and is over budget
“In France, Arkane’s management is beginning required consultation with its Works Council to review potential strategic options,” Sharma wrote in today’s memo to staff. That’s a complex negotiation process that could take months. What awaits the team on the other side could be some layoffs and new management, or closure and cancelation. If it’s the latter, Microsoft would be responsible for the unwinding of both Arkane studios it purchased as part of the Bethesda acquisition. Arkane Austin was closed in an earlier round of mass cuts back in 2024. It’s hard to quantify just what a heartbreaking waste that would be.