Arkane Lyon reportedly has until November 13 to find a buyer or face closure

Arkane Lyon, the studio making Marvel's Blade, reportedly has until November 13 to find a buyer or face closure. The report comes from French outlet Le Monde.

Xbox announced in July that it planned to divest Arkane, alongside cutting 3,200 jobs and parting ways with Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory, Double Fine and Undead Labs. In September, Xbox said consultation with Arkane was "expected to continue through the end of the year".

According to Le Monde, Microsoft has followed the process required by France's Florange Law, which obliges it to spend at least three months looking for a buyer. But Le Monde says negotiations are going "badly."

The report says "several forms of takeover" are being considered. Worker unions are trying to buy more time to save jobs, and their plans could include re-employing affected staff at other Xbox studios or taking Microsoft to court. IGN puts the studio's headcount at 217 employees.

Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier has offered a more hopeful read, saying "multiple paths" are being explored and that he'd be surprised if the studio is shut down.

Meanwhile, Blade is still being made. Le Monde reports production is nearing completion, and IGN reports the game was on track for a new reveal in early 2027, followed by a Q4 2027 release.

That reveal would be a long time coming. Blade was first shown in December 2023, and beyond a handful of concept art images, nothing else has been shown since.

Arkane Lyon has been around for 27 years. Its first game was Arx Fatalis in 2002, followed by Dark Messiah of Might and Magic in 2006, and it went on to make Dishonored and Deathloop.