Bethesda's Arkane Austin is one of a few Xbox studios that will officially be shutting down following an unexpected piece of news that broke earlier today, and now the boss of Arkane Lyon has chimed in on the situation.
In an emotional thread on social media, Dinga Bakaba called the Xbox closures "absolutely terrible" and even went as far as stating that it's a "f***ing gut stab" to read. Here's part of his statement:
"Don't throw us into gold fever gambits, don't use us as strawmen for miscalculations/blind spots, don't make our work environments darwinist jungles. You say we make you proud when we make a good game. Make us proud when times are tough. We know you can, we seen it before."
"For now, great teams are sunsetting before our eyes again, and it's a f**king gut stab. Lyon is safe, but please be tactful and discerning about all this, and respect affected folks' voice and leave it room to be heard, it's their story to tell, their feelings to express."
For those who aren't aware, Arkane Lyon is the team that was responsible for Deathloop and the upcoming Marvel's Blade game, whereas Arkane Austin (which has now closed) was responsible for Redfall and 2017's Prey.
Clearly there's a lot of sadness reverberating around the industry following this news (and all the other studio closures that have happened in recent months), and that includes a lot of disappointment and anger from Xbox fans as well.