With rumors and reports of Arkane Studios potentially being sold in the near future, a union representing its employees is levying some serious allegations against Microsoft and XBOX. In short, it’s alleged that Microsoft sabotaged the development of Marvel’s Blade through various management decisions.
The claims come from STJV (Syndicat des travailleureuses du jeu vidéo) in France.
Union Says Microsoft Created Delays Themselves
According to the union, development of the game is “going fine”. However, they paint a dire picture that Arkane could be closed in the next month or so.
“Today, as work on Blade is going fine, and that the level of quality of the game to be expected is on part with what Arkane has accustomed its players, workers have to face the harsh reality: our studio might get closed because, and only because, Microsoft decided to, even if that means sabotaging the game it funded,” the union says.
They continued by saying that Microsoft’s decision to close Arkane was based on claims of economic reasons. Those reasons, however, were caused by Microsoft’s own actions.
“Because after freezing hiring for 19 months, which artificially caused delay and additional cost, Microsoft now use those same delay and additional cost as a reason to close down the studio,” STJV said.
Additionally, STJV says, “the decision to close Arkane is solely the brutal application of a never-ending search for maximum profit optimization. Arkane is profitable. Just not profitable enough for Microsoft.”
STJV wants Arkane employees taken care of
As the statement concludes, the union laid out a case of demands against Microsoft and Xbox. In part, they want employees to have a say in who the studio gets sold to if it comes to that. If it were to close, they request a redundancy payout of €200,000 and two years of redeployment support completely funded by Microsoft, among other demands.
As far as the future of Arkane goes, they have until mid-December to find new ownership or risk being closed. Insider Gaming has been able to confirm earlier reports that Ubisoft has made an offer for the studio, and it had been one in the works for some time.
Whether it’s good enough to convince Microsoft to sell remains to be seen.
What do you think happens with Arkane Studios and Marvel’s Blade? Let us know down in the comments and in the official Insider Gaming Discord.
In other news, read the creative director for South of Midnight admitting that he wouldn’t have funded the game if it were his money. For even
Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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