Arkane Studios has shared their celebration for their 25th anniversary, which includes a small tease for their next big title.
Arkane’s art director Sébastien Mitton marked the occasion with a message in words, as well as in digital paint. The artwork he created, that you can also see as our feature image, shows the different protagonists of Arkane’s titles through the years.
You can see from our title that Marvel’s Blade features quite prominently. But this art is real fanservice, featuring a recognizable character from each of their original titles. And these cuts go as deep as you would absolutely wish they would. We’ll run them down for you below:
- Arx Fatalis’ The Guardian, brandishing a sword and shield, at the far left
- Marvel’s Blade at the top, second to the left
- Wolfenstein Youngblood’s Jess Blazkowicz, at the bottom left and aiming a rifle
- Prey’s Morgan Yu in their space suit, at the top and a little to the left of the center
- Dishonored’s Corvo Attano, at the very center
- Deathloop’s Colt Vahn, at the top and a little to the right of the center
- Dishonored’s Emily Kaldwin, at the bottom right
- Dark Messiah of Might and Magic’s Sareth, kicking an orc to its face, in the far right
If you’re a longtime Arkane Studios fan, you should read Mitten’s message in full. We will share some interesting insights he shared about the studio’s history.
For one, Mitten revealed that with all the games that the company has released, there are many more that never saw the light of day. However, all these games made Arkane what they are today, whether they were completed or not.
That phase that the studio went through of making multiple unfinished prototypes is what led them to building the franchise that they are best known for, Dishonored. Mitten reveals that he is proud of all their wild swings, including Prey, Deathloop, and yes, even Redfall.
Mitten didn’t reveal anything in particular about Marvel’s Blade, but here’s what he said the two times he did mention it:
“As we celebrate 25 years of Arkane Studios, I can’t help but reflect on the incredible journey that brought us here. Each step we’ve taken over the past quarter century (oh, boy!) has shaped who we are today, and they continue to inspire our work on our current project, Marvel’s Blade.
… And now, as we head into the future with Marvel’s Blade, I’m damn proud and excited to explore uncharted dimensions of our art.”
This goes without saying, but we should absolutely applaud and congratulate Arkane Studios for their achievements. Through good times and bad, they have helped shape the industry with their unique visions, and also given us a lot of fun games to play, and maybe even think about sometimes.
If there’s anything to take from this message about Marvel’s Blade, it’s that Mitten seems supremely confident that they are delivering something fans are right to be excited about. For now, we are just going to have to let Arkane cook.
