Dinga Bakaba, leader of Arkane Lyon, the producer responsible for Deathloop, who is now working on Marvel’s Blade, took to the social network X to react to the closure of Arkane Austin, in an emotional message in which he asked for permission to be human and speak from the heart.
Microsoft announced the closure of Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks and two other studios, as part of a new strategy to reinforce Bethesda’s focus, but for Bakaba there is no other way to look at it, it is a “stab in the gut” .
“This is absolutely terrible. Permission to be human: for any executives reading this, a friendly reminder that video games are an entertainment/culture industry and your business as a corporation is to take care of your artists and help them create value for you,” he began by saying Bakaba in a message you would never expect to see from the leader of an internal studio.
“Don’t throw us into feverish gold rushes, don’t use us as scarecrows for your blind spots/miscalculations, don’t turn our workplaces into Darwinian jungles. You say we make you proud when we play a good game. Make us proud when times are tough. We know you can, I’ve seen it before.”
“For now, great teams are disappearing before our eyes again and it’s like a damn stab in the gut. Lyon is safe, but please be tactful and careful with all of this, and respect the voice of those affected and leave space to listen to them, it is their story, their feelings.”
Bakaba says this is a time to regret what happened and respect the voice of those who lost their jobs, with no patience for members of the community with any snipe to throw.
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