In May of this year, Microsoft and Xbox closed several studios, including Arkane Austin. The news took everyone by surprise, and criticism quickly followed. While Redfall didn’t meet expectations, players disagreed with the decision to end its creators.
Months after the events, Raphael Colantonio, founder of Arkane, spoke on the matter during a recent interview. In his statements, Colantonio made it clear that gathering a team of talented developers is a very challenging task nowadays.
Because of this, the creator expressed disappointment with the companies’ decision, believing they made a serious mistake. From his perspective, Arkane Austin was a great team that didn’t deserve its fate.
Raphael Colantonio claims the closure of Arkane Austin was a mistake
In statements to PC Gamer, Colantonio explained that Arkane Austin was a special team full of talented developers capable of great things. He believes Microsoft and Xbox made a mistake by closing the studio, especially if it was simply due to market and investor concerns.
From his perspective, Arkane Austin deserved another chance despite the setback with Redfall. Thanks to various reports, we know the company didn’t want to work on a multiplayer title and hoped Xbox would change the project’s direction after acquiring Bethesda; however, nothing happened.
“I think if you look a little bit, it's obvious that Arkane Austin was a very special group of people that have made some cool things and that could pull it off again. I think it was a decision that just came down to, 'We need to cut something.' Was it to please the investors, the stock market? They're playing a different game,” the developer stated.
Colantonio added that we’ll likely never see another team like Arkane Austin, as gathering talent like theirs is extremely challenging nowadays, even with the reach of Microsoft and Xbox. For this reason, he believes the companies made a big mistake and let a great team go.
“Recreating a very special group like that is, I would dare to say, impossible," he says. "It takes forever. When you have that magic of Harvey [Smith] and Ricardo [Bare] etc that all come together, it's a specific moment in time and space that just worked out this way, that took forever to reach.
“Those people together can really make magic. It's not like, 'Doesn't matter, we'll just rehire.' No, try it. That's what big groups do all the time. They try to just hire massively and overpay people to create those magic groups. It doesn't work like this. So to me, that was stupid. But what do I know?” concluded the creator.
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