Marvel's Blade and Arkane at Risk: Xbox Considers Cuts

For several weeks, the atmosphere at Xbox has been very tense, due to the pre-announced cuts to staff and ongoing projects. Among the studios affected by the measure, the first to be mentioned were Ninja Theory, Double Fine, and Compulsion Games, with the existence of Senua remaining hanging by a thread. To this list, we had to add Undead Labs, whose State of Decay 3 is at serious risk. Unfortunately, the list doesn't end here.

Marvel's Blade at risk of cancellation

According to a report by The Verge, Microsoft is seriously considering the possibility of closing Arkane (we are talking about the Lyon studio, as the Austin one was closed two years ago). The French software house is currently working on Marvel's Blade, which was announced during the Game Awards 2023. Unfortunately, development is not progressing well: according to The Verge, the studio has exceeded its budget and the launch window has been moved to late 2027. The closure of Arkane would obviously entail the cancellation of the game.

Layoffs at Xbox

Like the other studios mentioned above, Arkane could also be saved if Microsoft manages to find a buyer, but this is a rather complicated hypothesis. With Arkane, the number of studios at risk thus reaches five, but this is a provisional figure that could still rise in the coming days. The layoffs for Microsoft's gaming division will unfortunately be very substantial: The Verge speaks of over 1,000 redundancies and the first measures will be adopted from July 6.