The closure of Arkane Austin earlier this 12 months got here as a really sad shock, felt keenly by followers of the immersive sim style. However in a brand new interview with PC Gamer, Arkane founder Raphael Colantonio, who left the corporate in 2017, mentioned that whereas the shutdown is gloomy, it additionally represents a possibility for a renewal of the style.
“It is unhappy, after all,” Colatonio mentioned. “They nonetheless had lots of mates there, and I wished to see our sport going eternally, for apparent causes. However the firm is [gone], however not the individuals. The individuals survive.”
Colantonio cited Wanting Glass Studios, who he described as “the originator of the immersive sim,” which launched groundbreaking video games together with Ultima Underworld (as Blue Sky Productions), System Shock, and Thief earlier than closing its doorways in 2000. Wanting Glass helped encourage the muse of Arkane, and a few of its staff finally joined the studio.
Black Isle Studios is one other one: Its closure in 2003 was one other unhappy loss, however “it is nonetheless going,” he mentioned, “as a result of you then had Brian Fargo make his personal firm, you had Troika, you had Obsidian … We nonetheless bear in mind Black Isle as an amazing firm in that style, however then we nonetheless have their video games.”
He additionally famous that Arkane continues to be round in Lyon, and that folks like himself, Harvey Smith, and Ricardo Naked are nonetheless on the scene too. Colantonio based WolfEye Studios in 2019, and returned to the immersive sim style with Bizarre West, a smaller-scale 2022 manufacturing that was excellent.
“We’re doing extra with WolfEye,” Colantonio mentioned. “I am certain they’ll do their very own stuff as nicely. And so the spirit of the immersive sim, I feel generally that is what you want—generally you want a renewal, you want a brand new impulse. And I feel that is going to spawn extra little immersive sim firms. So whereas [the Arkane Austin closure] is a tragic occasion, I do not suppose it essentially signifies that immersive sims are going to go away.”
That is to not say Colantonio thinks the shutdown of Arkane Austin is an efficient factor. He wasn’t shocked by Microsoft’s 2021 acquisition of Bethesda, Arkane’s guardian firm, however in hindsight he is unsure it was an excellent factor.
“I suppose it was an excellent transfer for many individuals,” he mentioned. “That is the rule, although. Once you promote to a type of big, big behemoths, you normally make some huge cash. So there have been lots of people that made some huge cash. After which at this level, you hand them the keys. They usually may—you realize, it is a part of the deal.”
WolfEye Studios is engaged on a model new “first-person motion RPG” that sounds very very similar to a return to Arkane’s roots. It would not have a title but, however Colantonio not too long ago described it structurally as one thing of a mixture of Fallout: New Vegas, Dishonored, and Prey. I am already reaching for my pockets.
