DryvBy
Member
Recently news broke that Dishonored was shelved for the foreseeable future. While this news was only just revealed to the world, Arkane in Lyon, France has known this for the past year. While my sources couldn’t say with certainty if this was what caused studio founder Raphaël Colantonio to disembark from the studio last year, it was stated that he left shortly after the pitch for both Dishonored 3 and Prey 2 had been turned down by Zenimax.
Following the ‘disappointing’ releases of Dishonored 2 and Prey, Zenimax decided that they didn’t do well because no one buys single player games, a sentiment that one source stated was “dead ass wrong.” This mindset has led to a hard pivot by Zenimax to focus more on multiplayer and live service experiences, with only a few single player games in the pipeline.
The departure of key personnel hasn’t helped, either; but what is making it worse is the hiring of controversial and abrasive figures like Sophie Mallinson and Hazel Monforton. Best known for their Twitter diatribes in which they attack men , their views have been endorsed by other Arkane employees. It’s gone so far that it’s been said at work by some that “the world would be better off without white men.”
The short and narrow of it is that a culture best defined as the SJW left is grabbing a bigger foothold within Arkane. Ground that is being given to them with the help of Harvey Smith. He has tried hard to appeal to the likes of Anita Sarkeesian. One way he has achieved this is by altering the narrative storytelling within Arkane’s games. An example recounted to me was that there used to be bras and other kinds of lingerie within Dishonored 2 to tell environmental stories about the whereabouts of who they belonged to. Harvey requested they be removed near the end of the game’s development because of the ‘sexist’ message it portrayed.
Another problem people like Sophie, Harvey, and Hazel have created is a fear of expression.
While all my sources denied that Prey and Dishonored had been negatively affected by the far left views of those mentioned above, it was stressed by every source that they fear for the future of the studio. With more employees being hired who just add tension to an already stressful environment, I’m sad to report that the future of the once promising Arkane is not looking too bright.
Source: https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2018/...stuck-between-two-competing-ideologies/67581/