‘A f***ing gut stab’: Arkane boss criticises Microsoft execs for studio closures

Arkane Lyon boss Dinga Bakaba has publicly criticised Microsoft executives for their decision to close several studios, including its Austin studio, calling the news “a fucking gut stab”.

On Tuesday, the Xbox maker told staff at four studios, including Redfall maker Arkane Austin, that they are planned for closure. Games boss Matt Booty claimed that some staff would be moved to other teams and others would be laid off.

Bakaba, the creative director of the critically acclaimed Deathloop and currently working on Blade, responded to the news on X with an unusually frank and critical message than we’re used to seeing from somebody running a first-party studio.

“This is absolutely terrible,” he wrote. “Permission to be human: to any executive reading this, friendly reminder that video games are an entertainment/cultural industry, and your business as a corporation is to take care of your artists/entertainers and help them create value for you.”

He added: “Don’t throw us into gold fever gambits, don’t use us as strawmen for miscalculations/blind spots, don’t make our work environments darwinist jungles. You say we make you proud when we make a good game. Make us proud when times are tough. We know you can, we seen it before.

“For now, great teams are sunsetting before our eyes again, and it’s a fucking gut stab. Lyon is safe, but please be tactful and discerning about all this, and respect affected folks’ voice and leave it room to be heard, it’s their story to tell, their feelings to express.”

Arkane Austin is planned to close alongside Hi-Fi Rush studio Tango Gameworks, Elder Scrolls Online co-developer Roundhouse, and Mighty Doom developer Alpha Dog.

The Austin team, which was initally set up in 2006, worked on the first Dishonored alongside other Arkane teams, before developing the 2017 version of Prey on its own.

Most recently, the studio was responsible for Redfall, which was released in 2023 to technical issues and an underwhelming critical reception (the game currently has a Metacritic score of 56).

Its closure means that planned ‘Hero Pass’ DLC for the game, which had remained in development despite the game’s bad launch, has now been cancelled, with all development on the game now ended.

Players who had previously pre-ordered the game and were expecting to get the Hero Pass as part of their order will now be getting “make-good offers” instead, according to Xbox.

The news of the studio closures follows confirmation earlier this year that 1,900 staff would be laid off across Activision Blizzard, Bethesda and Xbox.

According to head of gaming Phil Spencer at the time, the decision had been made after Microsoft and Activision Blizzard’s leadership teams “set priorities, identified areas of overlap, and ensured that we’re all aligned on the best opportunities for growth”.