- Dishonored was reportedly a last-ditch project for Arkane Studios after years of difficult contract work.
- The game’s co-creator said the studio had four months of money left when it started working on the title.
- The game’s success helped secure Arkane’s reputation as one of the strongest studios in the industry.
Dishonored, released more than a decade ago, is revered as one of gaming’s finest stealth-action games to date. Although demand for a third game exists to this day, Arkane has long since moved on from the franchise.
In fact, Dishonored itself was developed as a last-ditch effort by Arkane, one that ended up paying off for the team.
Why it matters: Game development is incredibly challenging, but one big win can completely shift a team’s fate, which was also the case for Arkane.
Arkane Studios was apparently in a far more fragile position before Dishonored became one of the defining stealth-action games of the Xbox 360 and PS3 era.
According to Dishonored co-creator Harvey Smith, the project came after years of unproductive contract work and arrived when Arkane had very little financial runway left. The studio was in a dire state and reportedly had just four months of money left.
During this time, Arkane was trying to do everything it could, taking up 9 whole projects at once. The team was even trying to collaborate with both EA and Ubisoft at once, working on games like zombie shooters, among other things.
However, the developer eventually realized that this strategy wouldn’t work, so it decided to focus on a singular thing and nail it to perfection. This led to the creation of Dishonored, and the rest is history.
At some point, we realized this is not the way. We are here to do a very specific thing. Let’s focus on that. The result was Dishonored.
-Harvey Smith
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[News Reporter]
Bawal is an MBBS student by day and a gaming journalist by night. He has been gaming since childhood, growing fond of the creativity and innovation of the industry. His career as a gaming journalist started one year ago, and his journey has allowed him to write reviews, previews, and features for various sites. Bawal has also been cited in reputed websites such as Screenrant, PCGamesN, WCCFTech, GamesRadar, and more.
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