Over a year has passed since Microsoft shut down Arkane Austin, and Harvey Smith is still processing what happened. The veteran developer behind Deus Ex and Dishonored appeared on the My Perfect Console podcast to reflect on the studio closure that ended a storied chapter in immersive sim history. His account reveals the human cost of corporate decisions and the shock of seeing a talented team disbanded despite doing quality work.
The Night Before Everything Changed
Smith received a call the night before the May 2024 shutdown informing him of Microsoft’s decision. He spent the entire stressful night worrying about the Arkane Austin developers who were still fairly new to the industry and had really only worked on a project or two before joining the studio to work on Redfall. The surprise wasn’t just about losing his own job, it was about what would happen to people whose careers were just beginning.
The shock ran deeper than just timing. Smith was genuinely surprised Microsoft was taking this measure because Arkane had done really good work over its history. The studio created Dishonored alongside the Lyon branch, then delivered Prey, one of the most critically acclaimed immersive sims of the past decade. These weren’t failures by any creative measure, yet the studio was being closed anyway.
Redfall and the Live Service Trap
Smith acknowledges that every company makes decisions for reasons they believe are sound, even if he doesn’t often agree with them. The context surrounding Arkane Austin’s closure involves Redfall, developed during the pandemic while the industry was exploring games-as-a-service models. The vampire co-op shooter didn’t become the live-service hit Microsoft was hoping for, and that failure ultimately sealed the studio’s fate.
As studio director, Smith takes responsibility for the traps Redfall fell into. However, he also points out the larger context of an industry chasing trends that don’t always align with a studio’s strengths. Arkane Austin was known for single-player immersive sims with intricate level design and emergent gameplay. Pivoting to a multiplayer live-service game represented a fundamental mismatch between studio expertise and corporate expectations.
The Privilege of Perspective
Smith describes himself as privileged in the grand scheme because he has had a long career to look back on with highs and lows. He’s that rare person in modern game development who has no complaints, though he admits that’s partly survivorship bias because things have worked out for him overall. Even when they haven’t, he can look at a long track record and contextualize low points against incredible high points.
That luxury of perspective is becoming increasingly rare in the game industry. Smith notes that long resumes filled with both good and bad moments are much harder to come by now. Some of the Arkane Austin team was just getting started in their careers when the shutdown happened. For them, this wasn’t just one setback in a long career. It was potentially career-defining trauma that might push them out of the industry entirely.
Why This Generation Has It Harder
Smith’s observation about career trajectories hits at something fundamental about the current state of game development. There was a time when getting laid off from one job wasn’t a disaster because you could likely find another position in a reasonable amount of time. That’s never been less true than it is right now. Layoffs are at an all-time high and affecting even the most profitable companies in the space.
The contrast is stark. Veteran developers like Smith who entered the industry in the 1990s or early 2000s could build careers across multiple studios, accumulating skills and relationships that provided safety nets during rough patches. Today’s developers face an industry where even landing a job at a prestigious studio like Arkane doesn’t guarantee stability. You can finally feel like you’ve made it by joining the team that created Dishonored, only to see that studio shut down a year or two later.
The Legacy That Was Lost
Arkane Austin’s closure represents more than just job losses. The studio had a lineage connecting back to some of gaming’s most important immersive sims. Smith himself worked on the original Deus Ex at Ion Storm, then helped create Dishonored at Arkane. That institutional knowledge, those relationships built over decades, and the shared creative language developed through years of collaboration all vanished overnight.
The immersive sim genre already occupies a precarious position in modern gaming. These games prioritize player choice, emergent gameplay, and intricate systems interactions over spectacle and mass appeal. They’re expensive to make and difficult to market. Losing a studio that specialized in this craft means losing not just current developers, but also the accumulated wisdom about how to create these experiences.
What Smith Said in May 2024
This isn’t the first time Smith has spoken about the closure. Back in May 2024, immediately after the shutdown, he posted an emotional thread on social media. He talked about 16 years at Arkane, making a home for people and collaborating with them. He described the privilege of shipping games together, playing together, and surviving the pandemic and multiple crises as a team.
At that time, Smith’s focus was on helping his team find new jobs. He made dozens of calls, forged connections, and developed plans to get people placed. His throat was still raw from those conversations. The human dimension of layoffs was front and center, not abstract discussions about business decisions or market forces.
Creative Efforts Are Unpredictable
One phrase from Smith’s podcast appearance stands out. Creative efforts are unpredictable. It’s a simple acknowledgment that even talented teams making thoughtful decisions can produce work that doesn’t find an audience or meet commercial expectations. Redfall wasn’t the next live-service phenomenon, but it’s still a shame that a studio of such pedigree was caught up in the live-service race and shuttered when it didn’t work out.
The tragedy is that Arkane Austin was forced into that race in the first place. Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media, which owned Bethesda and Arkane, in September 2020. Sources told Bloomberg that once Arkane Austin employees learned they were included in Microsoft’s acquisition, many hoped the new management would reboot Redfall as a traditional single-player experience characteristic of Arkane’s style. If not that, they simply hoped the company would cancel the project entirely, freeing them from something they felt neither confident about nor excited for.
FAQs
Why was Arkane Austin shut down?
Microsoft closed Arkane Austin in May 2024 as part of broader cuts at Bethesda, citing a need to prioritize high-impact games. The closure came after the studio’s live-service game Redfall failed to meet commercial expectations.
Who is Harvey Smith?
Harvey Smith is a veteran game developer who worked as lead designer on the original Deus Ex and served as studio director at Arkane Austin. He co-created the Dishonored series and oversaw development of Prey and Redfall.
What games did Arkane Austin make?
Arkane Austin co-developed Dishonored with Arkane Lyon, then created Prey in 2017, and most recently developed Redfall, which released in 2023. The studio was known for immersive sim games with deep player choice and emergent gameplay.
Did Harvey Smith know the shutdown was coming?
Yes, Smith received a call the night before the May 2024 shutdown informing him of Microsoft’s decision. He spent that stressful night worrying about developers on his team who were early in their careers.
What is an immersive sim?
Immersive sims are games that emphasize player choice, emergent gameplay, and complex systems interactions. Examples include Deus Ex, Dishonored, Prey, and System Shock. They allow players to approach objectives through multiple methods using environmental storytelling and reactive game systems.
Is Arkane Lyon still operating?
Yes, Arkane Lyon in France continues to operate and is currently developing Marvel’s Blade. Only the Austin, Texas branch of Arkane was shut down by Microsoft in May 2024.
What happened to Redfall after the shutdown?
Redfall remains available but received minimal post-launch support after the studio closure. The game launched in rough shape and never recovered commercially or critically before Arkane Austin was shut down.
Where is Harvey Smith now?
Smith’s current employment status hasn’t been publicly announced. In the aftermath of the closure, he focused on helping former Arkane Austin employees find new positions in the industry.
Conclusion
Harvey Smith’s reflections paint a sobering picture of modern game development. A studio with a celebrated legacy can be shut down despite doing good work. Talented developers in the early stages of their careers can have their paths disrupted by corporate decisions made thousands of miles away. The immersive sim genre loses one of its most important champions because the studio was forced to chase live-service trends that didn’t align with its strengths. Smith’s perspective as a veteran who’s survived multiple industry shifts makes his concern for younger developers even more poignant. They don’t have the luxury of contextualizing this setback against decades of other experiences. For some, this might be the moment that pushes them out of games entirely. The closure of Arkane Austin is just one data point in a larger crisis facing the game industry, but it’s a particularly painful one given the studio’s creative legacy and the clear mismatch between what they were asked to make and what they did best.