Arkane Lyon Gets Until Mid-December to Find a Buyer

Microsoft has extended the deadline for Arkane Studios to find a buyer, pushing it back to mid-December. The studio was previously due to be closed if no buyer had been found by 13 November.

According to Video Games Chronicle, the extension adds one more month to the consultation period. Arkane is based in Lyon, France, and the studio at risk is Arkane Lyon, the team behind the 2021 shooter Deathloop. A shooter is a game built around gunfire and combat.

The process comes from French law. France's Florange Law requires any company with more than 1,000 employees to search for a buyer before it closes a facility. Microsoft said the extra time lets it explore its options, including finding a partner to support Arkane through the development work still ahead on Marvel's Blade. It also said it remains committed to keeping the works council, the employee representative body, informed.

Video Games Chronicle reports that more than 200 jobs are at risk if no buyer is found. Le Monde put the figure at 217. Le Monde also reported that Arkane is looking at several forms of takeover, although the studio's future is still unclear.

Marvel's Blade is the project at the centre of the story. Arkane revealed the game during The Game Awards in 2023, and it has been in development since. Members of the Printemps Ecologique union, which represents workers at the studio, have said the game is virtually finished. The union has also said it would be a monumental waste if Blade never reached players.

Earlier this year, The Verge reported that Microsoft was weighing whether to cancel the game. Microsoft has not announced a decision on Blade. Its latest statement frames the extension as time to look for a partner, not as a final answer.

For now, the studio's staff, and players waiting on Blade, will have to wait until mid-December for the next update.