We now have our first big update on Marvel’s Blade, and while Arkane didn’t give us a press release for this one, this seems mostly confirmed given its from official sources.
Timur222 shared this update on Bluesky:
Arkane Studios’ financial statements for 2024 are out
The production phase of Marvel’s Blade was launched at the end of 2024, following prototype validation.
The company employed 190 people in 2024
The report also added the odd detail that Arkane Studios’ revenue is currently only derived from ZeniMax Media’s invoices. Of course, that’s normal in game development if you don’t have a recently released game, or don’t have a live service title with ongoing support.
Timur222 went on to clarify that Arkane’s financial statements do not refer to Marvel’s Blade by name. So one could say it isn’t 100 % confirmed that the game they’re referring to in this report is that game.
But there’s no reason to believe it’s anything else. It’s the only new game that’s been announced for Arkane in the last two years, and Arkane and Microsoft have not dropped any hints that they have more than one original project in development.
While it isn’t a 100 % guarantee that Marvel’s Blade is safe, it is a reassuring note. We have been hearing claims and rumors of various games and studios owned by Microsoft being closed, and without official confirmation from Microsoft, this has been the only way we’ve known about their closures.
Subsequently, we aren’t sure if the games and studios that have not yet been mentioned are safe from being closed or wound down in some way. But again, while Microsoft does not confirm any of these claims, we can only work on the assumption that nothing is happening, or that we don’t know, while we don’t hear any news. Apparently, Microsoft still has 40 games in development, and everything that they revealed in the latest Xbox Games Showcase is ‘safe’, regardless of how reassuring such a claim could be.
On another end, EA recently cancelled Marvel’s Black Panther, and closed Cliffhanger Games, the studio they acquired to make it. The rumor was that EA was not satisfied that Cliffhanger Games was taking too long in pre-production, having worked on the game already for four years. While that may be enough for EA’s management and investors, one wonders if Marvel feels they have control over these projects.
Sony and Insomniac Games are ostensibly the best partners for their Marvel’s Spider-Man video games, though one could argue that NetEase’s Marvel Rivals has jumped far ahead of the pack. If Arkane gets the opportunity, it’s clear that they could make a Marvel’s Blade video game that could change the industry, so let’s hope that they will be given that opportunity.
