Arkane Studios Could Have Made Thief 4 or a Blade Runner Game Instead of Dishonored

Over the past few weeks, Arkane Studios has become one of the most discussed names in the gaming community. Unfortunately, the reason why the creators of such video games as Dishonored, Prey, and Deathloop are in the spotlight is related to its possible shutdown as part of Microsoft’s restructuring process, as the company that owns the studio. So far, there are no official announcements on this matter, but at the same time, it was revealed that the French studio could have developed entirely different projects instead of the abovementioned 2012 stealth-action title, Dishonored.

French game designer Raphaël Colantonio, one of Arkane Studios’ founders and the creator of the Dishonored game series, posted a new video on his YouTube channel where he personally plays Dishonored together with the game’s co-director Harvey Smith, fourteen years after its release. In the more than hour-long video, he reveals that Arkane Studios potentially could have developed other projects instead of Dishonored. One of these was Thief 4, and the idea came from Bethesda, as well as the project set in the Blade Runner universe. However, the publisher was unable to secure the rights to either franchise, so the decision was made to continue with Dishonored. More detailed information from Colantonio and Smith’s speeches you can check out below, as well as to see his Dishonored playtest:

“Before we did Dishonored, we were supposed to either do Thief or Blade Runner. Which is basically like coming to two cats and saying, 'We have a big bag of catnip here on the one side. We have another bag of catnip here. Which one do you want? You want both?' We were both so excited. Blade Runner and Thief, like two of our favorite things of all time.

We were in a in a such a dire situation business-wise and they came up not only to save us, but also to bring, frankly, the IP that I would have liked to work on the most. Eventually they said, 'Ah, it's okay - keep what you're doing and, uh, and call it Dishonored.”

What feels really frustrating is that Arkane Studios potentially could have made a Blade Runner video game that had all the chances to be a massive hit, especially given how deep and compelling the storylines of Dishonored and Prey turned out to be, along with the detailed game worlds with interesting gameplay mechanics. Nevertheless, the Dishonored game series itself brought Arkane Studios fame and popularity, so perhaps it was for the best.

The studio is now working on Marvel's Blade, which was announced back in 2023. However, the project's future may be uncertain due to the potential closure of Arkane Studios, and if this happens, the game might be cancelled. But at the same time, it was recently revealed that Jerk Gustafsson, the studio director of MachineGames, has been appointed as the new president of Arkane Studios —and the gamers considered this as a sign that the studio will continue to be active.

Are you disappointed that Arkane Studios wasn’t able to make Thief 4 or the Blade Runner video game? Share your thoughts in the comments below!