Arkane's founder just asked Xbox "how much?" as the studio faces sale or closure
Raphael Colantonio, the designer behind Dishonored and Prey, publicly asked Xbox's CEO "How much?" after she announced Arkane Lyon is being divested — and the internet immediately took his side. The comment, posted July 6 on X, was framed as "asking for a friend," but it lit up gaming communities on both sides of the Atlantic. Xbox confirmed it is in consultation with Arkane Lyon's Works Council, as required under French labor law, with sale, spinoff, or closure all on the table.
The studio's situation
Arkane Lyon — the French branch responsible for Deathloop and the in-development Marvel's Blade — is in a precarious spot. Sister studio Arkane Austin was shut down in 2024 after Redfall underperformed. Xbox's broader restructuring has already seen Compulsion Games and Double Fine become independent, while Ninja Theory and Undead Labs move to new owners. Lyon is next in line. Marvel's Blade is confirmed over budget and delayed, though Microsoft says it has not been cancelled. A buyer would presumably inherit both the studio and the game.
Regarding Arkane… how much? I’m asking for a friend ?
— Raphael Colantonio (@rafcolantonio) July 6, 2026
Colantonio's case
Colantonio co-founded Arkane in 1999 and spent 18 years there before leaving in 2017, citing creative burnout after Prey shipped. He went on to found WolfEye Studios, a lean distributed team of around 20 people, which released the RPG Weird West in 2022. WolfEye is now building an unnamed first-person sci-fi immersive sim described as inspired by Fallout: New Vegas, per The Gamer.
The gap between WolfEye's size and Arkane Lyon's 100-plus employees makes a literal buyout logistically complicated. French labor law also means any ownership change requires a months-long consultation process — this won't be resolved quickly. Still, Kotaku notes the fan response was immediate and overwhelming: comment after comment urging Xbox to hand the studio back to its creator.
What happens next
No formal acquisition talks have been confirmed. Colantonio's post reads as a joke — but it's also the kind of joke that gets taken seriously when the alternative is closure. Xbox has not named any potential buyers, and the French consultation timeline means a resolution is likely months away. For fans of Arkane's style of first-person immersive sims, the outcome matters: no other studio quite replicates what Lyon has built since 1999.
