re: Microsoft Closing Multiple Studios

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I'd be interested in meeting someone who is a huge fan of the other three studios that were closed/absorbed.

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Arcane Lyon is working on Blade, and was also behind pretty much every successful/decent Arkane game (Deathloop, Dishonored series, etc).

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Between both studios, Arkane has the distinction of making the most underrated title (Prey) AND the most overrated title (Deathloop) of the past 10 years. Prey is the best or 2nd best game that Arkane has made. They have Zenimax to thank for it underperforming - their meddling was so bad that Arkane's founder quit after its release.

Deathloop was not good, and that's coming from an Arkane simp who was delighted over the concept. One of the most overrated games of all time based on its critic reviews - after the initial release with all those 10/10s, that game was never talked about again. Just came out during a weak stretch of games. I never played Redfall, but I've played and 100%'d all their other games and it's easily the next worst.

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Arkane Austin was behind Redfall. Not sure much needs to be said about that one. When Phil Spencer has to come out and publicly apologize for your game, that's probably not a great sign. Arkane Lyon was not affected. Arcane Lyon is working on Blade, and was also behind pretty much every successful/decent Arkane game (Deathloop, Dishonored series, etc).

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They have Zenimax to thank for that as well. Arkane Austin lost 70% of their staff once Redfall development began because they hated everything about it and it was diametrically opposed to studio's output in the past. The staff that stuck around were hopeful that MS would cancel it after the acquisition. With a ton of new staff and disgruntled existing staff, it's no surprise Redfall was dogshit.

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Shinji Mikami left Tango Gameworks right after Hi-Fi RUSH was released. I wasn't sure how that studio was going to survive without him, so I don't find this closure to be incredibly shocking.

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Then you just don't know anything about the studio

Mikami has largely stepped away from game direction and production. He hasn't directed a game since 2014 and his only other credits since then are Exec Producer credits (not to be confused with a real Producer credit, which is more akin to a project manager in the gamedev world). He had no substantial roles with the developments of Ghostwire and Hifi Rush