A freeze, then a closure
The staff at Arkane Lyon say the delays Microsoft points to were self-inflicted, and the Arkane Lyon hiring freeze at the centre of their case is now the argument that decides whether Marvel’s Blade finds a home. The French video game workers’ union, the STJV, accuses Microsoft of sabotaging the game with a 19-month hiring freeze and then citing the resulting delays as grounds to close or sell the studio.
The union published its statement on 4 November, according to GamesIndustry.biz. It says work on Blade is “going fine” and that the game’s quality is on a par with what Arkane has accustomed its players to. Microsoft had not responded to the union’s claims when GamesIndustry.biz published, and PC Gamer said it had asked Xbox for comment.
Microsoft chose to justify the closure on economic reasons. But Microsoft is actually why those economic reasons even exist. Because after freezing hiring for 19 months, which artificially caused delays and additional cost, Microsoft now uses those same delays and additional costs as a reason to close down the studio.
STJV statement, as quoted by PC Gamer
The union goes further on money. It says “Arkane is profitable. Just not profitable enough for Microsoft,” and claims that closing the studio now “would probably be more expensive than finishing the game.” Rock Paper Shotgun notes the statement doesn’t go into detail on that cost claim, or on its separate allegation that Microsoft has “systematically” deprived Arkane of cash. These are the union’s assertions, not figures Microsoft has confirmed.
What the workers want
GamesIndustry.biz puts the studio’s headcount at 217, plus contractors and freelancers, all facing job losses unless a buyer is found. The STJV’s demands, as PC Gamer and Rock Paper Shotgun set them out, split in two. If a sale goes ahead:
- Go beyond the mandatory works council consultation and give employee representatives and unions a say in choosing a buyer.
- Set up a protection fund for workers fired for economic reasons by the buyer in the following 24 months.
And if Arkane closes, the union wants a redundancy payment of €200,000 per worker, two years of Microsoft-funded redeployment support, shared resources for training and studio creation, and compensation up to the redundancy payment for independent workers whose contracts are broken. The union says its “dearest wish” is for Arkane to live on, and that its future has to go beyond finishing Blade.
The clock and the bidders
Microsoft’s consultation with Arkane’s Social and Economic Committee began in July, when Xbox said it would divest the studio, and was originally due to finish on 13 November. GamesIndustry.biz reported on 26 October that Microsoft had extended it by one month, and Rock Paper Shotgun now gives the new date as 13 December. A Microsoft representative said “this is a defined extension,” and the company says it is “actively seeking a partner to support the next phase of development and enable the commercialisation of the project.”
That partner may be Ubisoft. GamesIndustry.biz and Rock Paper Shotgun both say Ubisoft is reportedly among those looking to buy Arkane Lyon, though neither reports a confirmed deal. Le Monde, cited by GamesIndustry.biz, reported that “several forms of takeover are being considered,” and that an internal report put the start of a full shutdown at the end of 2026, running into the first quarter of 2027. Rock Paper Shotgun adds a caution: Ubisoft has itself closed studios and laid off staff recently, and we covered its proposal to close Trials studio RedLynx.
Arkane has been here before. Xbox closed Arkane Austin in 2024, and this latest reset has left other studios waiting for owners too, as we noted when Ninja Theory and Undead Labs were still without named buyers. Microsoft also says any Xbox rebound is tied to game launches, and Blade is exactly that kind of launch.
We think the union has asked the right question. If the studio is profitable and Blade is on track, as the STJV says, then a closure that costs more than finishing the game would be hard to defend. We can’t verify any of those claims, and Microsoft hasn’t answered them. But the 13 December date is close, and a buyer that keeps Blade alive would settle the argument better than any statement can.
