Microsoft wants to close Arkane Lyon. That’s according to Le Monde, which reports that the French studio behind Dishonored and Deathloop is facing a planned closure that puts 217 jobs at risk. Nothing is final yet: the formal consultation with staff representatives runs until 13th November, and Microsoft says it’s still exploring its options.
What Le Monde reported
According to Le Monde, Arkane’s management told employees on 16th July that Microsoft wanted to close the studio. A method agreement signed on 24th July between Arkane Studios and Printemps écologique, the studio’s only representative union, refers in black and white to “the plan for the total and permanent cessation of the company’s activities”, including the economic redundancy of every employee. That agreement has been public on Légifrance, the French government’s legal database, since 10th August.
Le Monde also cites an internal document, available since September, that sets out a closure “from the end of 2026”, continuing into the first quarter of 2027. The paper says it asked Microsoft about that timetable and didn’t get an answer.
The key dates are close. Negotiations over the redundancy plan (in France, the PSE, which sets severance and redeployment terms) end on 30th October, and the consultation of staff representatives ends on 13th November. Under France’s 2014 Florange law, a group with more than 1,000 employees that wants to close a site has to look for a buyer for three months. Le Monde reports that “several forms of takeover are being considered”.
What Microsoft says
In an email to Le Monde, Microsoft said it is “exploring different options for Arkane” and “actively seeking a partner to support the next phase of development and enable the commercialisation of the project”. It neither confirmed nor denied the closure. That’s consistent with Asha Sharma’s “Resetting Xbox” memo on 6th July, which said: “In France, Arkane’s management is beginning required consultation with its Works Council to review potential strategic options.” The same memo said none of Xbox’s publicly announced first-party games were being cancelled as part of the reductions.
The project in question is Marvel’s Blade, the single-player, third-person action game that Arkane Lyon and Bethesda announced at The Game Awards in December 2023. The Printemps écologique representative told Le Monde the game is “fairly near the end” of production, and said it would be a “monumental waste, artistically, humanly and commercially” if it never came out. That’s the union’s assessment, not an official update from Arkane or Microsoft. No release date or platforms have been announced for Marvel’s Blade.
The unions push back
Printemps écologique doesn’t accept the economic case. Its representative told Le Monde that Microsoft wants to part with Arkane “while the studio is doing well, in order to make savings and improve the short-term return on its investments”, and the union hasn’t ruled out challenging the economic grounds in court once negotiations end. It has asked for the deadlines for both the redundancy plan and the buyer search to be pushed back. If the closure goes ahead, it wants internal redeployment within Microsoft, paid redeployment leave and a plan suited to a games industry where, it says, the chances of finding a new job are “really very low”.
The STJV, the French video game workers’ union, which is present at the studio but has no elected representatives there, has criticised Microsoft’s lack of transparency. Both unions are considering further action, including a strike. “If there is no significant progress, we will keep increasing the pressure,” the STJV told Le Monde.
Arkane Lyon on Xbox
Arkane was founded in Lyon in 1999, joined Bethesda in 2010 and came to Microsoft with the ZeniMax Media acquisition. Its sister studio, Arkane Austin, was closed in May 2024. The Lyon team’s games are all on Game Pass right now: Deathloop, Dishonored Definitive Edition, Dishonored 2 and Dishonored: Death of the Outsider. Deathloop is also an Xbox Play Anywhere title, and all four can be streamed with Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Arkane’s situation is one part of a wider restructure, with Xbox cutting around 3,200 roles across its financial year. We’ve covered the next planned rounds of Xbox layoffs separately.
Le Monde’s reporting was corroborated by Frandroid, Gematsu and VICE. 13th November is the date to watch. We’ll update you when Microsoft makes its decision.
