Blade, backlit, with a blood red background

Via Arkane/MicrosoftVia Arkane/Microsoft

Arkane's Blade game, due out in 2027, may be on the chopping block. According to a new report at The Verge, the game—in development by Dishonored and Deathloop creators Arkane—is running over budget and schedule, marking it a potential target for the massive "reset" ordered by new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma.

Arkane itself may be facing closure if Microsoft doesn't spin the studio off to a buyer, alongside other major studios it is looking to sell, like Double Fine, Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory, and Undead Labs.

Aside from the noted studios, mass layoffs are expected across all corners of Xbox next month. The Verge source points to a July 6 date for the potential redundancies, and notes the number of affected roles could be north of one thousand.

The upcoming cuts are said to be part of Sharma's plan to "reset" the division and make it more "self-reliant." If they do materialize in early July, they will represent the fifth major round of layoffs after the historic, nearly $69 billion merger with Activision-Blizzard, with thousands of roles cut across Xbox studios and the shuttering of developers like Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games, and The Initiative.

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About the Author

Danielle Riendeau

Editor-in-Chief, GameDeveloper.com

Danielle is the editor-in-chief of Game Developer, with previous editorial posts at Fanbyte, VICE, and Polygon. She’s also a lecturer in game design at the Berklee College of Music, and a hobbyist game developer in her spare time.