Arkane's founder was saddened to hear of the closure of Arkane's Austin studio, but insists that immersive sims will continue: The studio may be gone, but "the people" survive.

Arkane Austin's closure earlier this year was a surprise that fans of immersive sims felt deeply. Arkane founder Raphael Colantonio who left the company in 2017 said in a recent interview with PC Gamer that the shutdown was sad but also an opportunity to renew the genre.

Colatonio stated, "It is sad." "They still had many friends there, and for obvious reasons, I wanted to continue our game forever. But the company [is gone], but not the players. The people survive."

Colantonio mentioned Looking Glass Studios as the "initiator of immersive sims" who released groundbreaking games such as Ultima Underworld (as Blue Sky Productions), System Shock and Thief, before closing their doors in 2000. Arkane was founded by Arkane after Arkane's founders were inspired by Looking Glass. Some of its employees joined Arkane.

Black Isle Studios was another: Its closure in 2002 was another sad loss. But "it's still running," he said. "Because then you had Brian Fargo start his own company, and you had Troika and Obsidian. We still remember Black Isle for being a great company of that genre, but we still have their game."

He also mentioned that Arkane, Harvey Smith and Ricardo Bare were still active in Lyon. Colantonio, who founded WolfEye Studios at the beginning of 2019, returned to immersive sims with Weird West. This smaller-scale production from 2022 was very good.

Colantonio stated, "We're doing a lot more with WolfEye." "I'm certain they'll do their own stuff, too." The spirit of the immersive simulation, I think that sometimes you need to renew, you need new energy. And I think this will lead to more small immersive sim companies. "While [the Arkane Austin closing] is a sad thing, I don't believe it means that immersive simulations will go away."

Colantonio does not think the closure of Arkane is a positive thing. He wasn't surprised that Microsoft would acquire Arkane parent company Bethesda in 2021, but he isn't sure if it was a positive thing.

"I think it was a great move for many people," said he. "That's just the rule." You usually make a lot more money when you sell to these huge, enormous behemoths. There were many people who made a lot. You hand them the keys at this point. "They might--you'll know, that's part of it."

WolfEye Studios has been working on a new "first-person RPG" which sounds a lot like Arkane. Colantonio described it as a hybrid of Fallout: New Vegas and Prey. It does not yet have a name. I'm already reaching to my wallet.