Things are potentially looking up for Arkane, depending on how you feel about Ubisoft (and depending on who actually ends up acquiring them). I mention the Assassin’s Creed developer because, reportedly, they’re interested in buying the studio from Microsoft, having even made a bid for it. I’ll go out on a limb here and say it’s the whole being French thing, but uh, I’d really rather someone else bought Arkane.
This comes from, you guessed it, Bloomberg, who say that sources they’ve spoken with claim two other gaming companies have also made a bit. There is even the potential that Arkane would be sold to their own management, as Xbox are considering such a move. But overall, it doesn’t yet sound like anything is leaning any particular way, as Xbox haven’t formalised a deal with any of the potential buyers. Bloomberg also note that if a deal is made, this should then allow Arkane to finish their work on their Blade game, which is expected to release within the next couple of years.
Apparently an Xbox spokesperson told Bloomberg that the gaming company is exploring their options ahead of their December deadline, but didn’t comment any further. Ubisoft reportedly did not have a comment to make on the matter. For some context on that December deadline, because of French labour laws, companies that have over 1000 staff members are required to search for a buyer for three months before they can just completely shut down. That makes December 13th the final date that such a deal has to be made by, meaning there’s about a month and a half left to go.
Arkane’s sale comes as part of a sweeping range of cuts, sales and closures being made by Microsoft at the moment. In July, it was announced that studios like Double Fine, Undead Labs and Compulsion would no longer be a part of Xbox, with all three going indie; Ninja Theory was also announced as part of these cuts, but unfortunately it’s looking like they’ll be shutting their doors. Thousands of Xbox staff were also laid off at this time, with more laid off in September, and even more coming this month and January reportedly. As always, solidarity with all workers affected by Microsoft’s heartless and money hungry cuts.