Dishonored Developer Shares The Personal Pain Of Microsoft’s Studio Closures

Harvey Smith, the now-former studio director at Arkane Austin, has taken to X/Twitter to express his feelings about Microsoft’s sudden and shocking closure of the beloved developer, alongside three other Bethesda-adjacent studios, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Games. The team that brought us Dishonored, Prey, and the all-time classic Dark Messiah of Might & Magic is suddenly no more.

What links all of the games that Smith and his recurring colleagues have worked on is the nebulous title of “immersive sims.” From System Shock to Deus Ex to Prey, Smith has been pivotal in them all, and the closure of Arkane Austin is an existential crisis for the genre.

“What a place,” says Harvey Smith, whose credits stretch back to being the QA lead on the original System Shock. “It was 16 years for me. Some games I will always treasure. Very proud of the team and culture. No place is perfect, but we cared a lot and put in effort.”

Smith’s thread is one that re-humanizes May 7’s explosive news, reminds us that this isn’t just about studios closing, nor even vast numbers of individuals out of work, but also families being shattered. People who’ve worked together for years, even decades, forced to go separate ways.

Some notes on Arkane.
What a place. It was 16 years for me. Some games I will always treasure. Very proud of the team and culture. No place is perfect, but we cared a lot and put in effort.

— Harvey Smith (@Harvey1966) May 8, 2024

Arkane, spread between Lyon in France and Austin in Texas, generally works on individual projects, with the Austin branch focused on Redfall right up until the bitter end, while the surviving Arkane Lyon appears to still be developing action-adventure Marvel’s Blade. Of course, projects overlap, Smith himself spent four years living in Lyon, and both teams work on each other’s games. Lyon’s co-creative director, Dinga Bakaba, has made his fury about the new situation very clear

Smith’s response is far more sombre and reflective, with his focus on helping his team find new jobs in the industry. “We shipped games together, played together, survived the pandemic and multiple psychic hurricanes together,” the thread continues. “So my effort is going into them.” However, looking beyond that, the developer adds, “And then right after, my full effort turns toward getting ready for what’s next.”

Smith, who previously worked at Ion Storm and was lead designer on the all-time great Deus Ex, goes on to celebrate his colleagues, including Arkane Studios founder Raphael Colantonio. He talks about the bonds formed, the decades-old relationships and D&D games, and the impact of that blowing up. “But 16 years at one place, making a home for people, collaborating with them! What a privilege!”

I did not even get a chance to say hi yesterday, but there is a programmer i saw off and on during the day. Tireless. Ever optimistic. Recently became a lead. He was so pivotal to our project, our spirit. I found it moving to even hear his voice. I’ll see him at D&D night…

Using the example of a film director and writer who often work together, and then hire the same cinematographer and producer “because of the creative chemistry,” Smith says, “they routinely need hundreds of other super skilled people to make a film.” The developer likens this to his own experience in the industry, how he and a core group have worked together going back decades and through multiple developers, alongside much larger teams of people pulled in for a particular project. As such, Smith intends to see that happen again, somewhere new.

I held it together until I got to my favorite coffee shop, late in the afternoon. Standing there sipping a cortado, I had the very powerful surreal *physical* realization that I was numb. Like is shock. I was continuing to message and connect.

— Harvey Smith (@Harvey1966) May 8, 2024

“I made a bunch of calls yesterday,” Smith continues. “Made connections. Made plans. My throat is still raw. Our people are really great. Many of them—like so many colleagues—are scrambling. I hope conditions change soon.”

The Dishonored frontman then muses on team sizes, about rediscovering that “sweet spot” for what he calls “the types of games I am driven to make.” Which, thank god, means immersive sims, and the clear intention to keep on making them.

“I hugged my dear, dear friend…Ben Horne yesterday,” Smith says as his thread draws to a close. “I just grabbed him and held him tight. I could literally feel how much tension his body is carrying.” Then he concludes,

We endure these things because we care about the people, the work. And when it comes together, as a brilliant relationship or a brilliant creative work, it is literally the purpose of existence.

All the best to everyone affected in yesterday’s closures.