Former president and founder of Microsoft says that closing Arkane was a "dumb move".

Raphael Colantonio, WolfEye Studios' boss and Arkane creator, is understandably frustrated by Microsoft’s decision to shut down Arkane Austin in the first half of this year. Colantonio founded Arkane in 1999. It grew to two studios in 2006, Arkane Austin and Arkane Lyon. Prey was his last game before he left the company in 2017.

Microsoft, its new owner, would close the Austin team's doors after only one game was produced, the unprofitable Redfall. Jeremy Peel interviewed Colantonio recently for a comprehensive interview, which you can read about over the next few weeks. One of his biggest disappointments was the way Microsoft split up so much talent.

"I think that if you look at it a little, it's clear that Arkane was a special group of people who have made some cool stuff and could pull it off once again," he said. "I think the decision was made because we needed to cut something. Was it to appease the investors, or the stock market? They're playing another game."

Colantonio doesn't understand why Microsoft cut the line, since he left Arkane prior to the closure. "We might not understand the rules they play. It's different. It's difficult to know why they did the things they did." He's insistent that it was wrong. "The only thing I will stand by is that the choice to kill Arkane Austin was not a wise decision."

He doesn't believe we'll ever see a studio as special again. "I would say that it is impossible to recreate a group as special as that. It takes forever. It takes forever. These people can make magic. It's not as if we say, "It doesn't matter. We'll just hire again." Try it. It's something big groups do every day. They hire people in large numbers and pay them excessively to create these magic groups. It doesn't really work this way. To me, this was stupid. "But what do I know?"

Arkane Lyon, however, is still active and is currently working on its next title: Marvel's Blade. Colantonio continues to create fascinating immersive simulations like Weird West. WolfeEye is working on a first-person RPG.