Harvey Smith was shocked that Microsoft closed Arkane Austin amid its successes.
Former Arkane Austin director Harvey Smith, known for his work on Deus Ex and Dishonored, shared his memories of Microsoft's closure of the studio in May 2024 after the failure of Redfall. In the My Perfect Console podcast, he called the decision a "shock," given the team's successful projects.
Every company makes decisions for one reason or another. I often disagree with them, but the main shock is that this studio created Dishonored (together with the Lyon branch) and Prey. We worked on Redfall for several years during the pandemic. The industry was experimenting with games-as-a-service. Creative endeavors are unpredictable
According to Smith, it was especially difficult for young employees for whom Redfall was the first major game in their careers.
Separately, Smith spoke about the toxicity of people on social networks and their attitude towards developers.
It seems to me that video game developers have it worse [compared to musicians and film actors]. You release your game, which took years to create, maybe it fails, maybe it's not bad, or maybe people just don't like it. Even if they like it, you are still bombarded with toxic criticism on social networks. Toxicity will always be there, no matter what you do.
