Arkane Studios founder Raphael Colantonio says WolfEye Studios, which he co-founded after leaving Arkane in 2017, will reveal more about its new game in a few days, and that fans of his previous first-person games are going to be happy.
Colantonio founded Arkane in 1999 and made a small but enduring splash with the Ultima Underworld-inspired Arx Fatalis. After that came the excellent Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, which didn't get nearly the love it deserved, and then Dishonored, the game that really put Arkane on the map. He left Arkane after the release of the underappreciated Prey, founded WolfEye, and in 2022 released Weird West, a game that very adeptly mashed up the immersive sim and isometric RPG genres.
In 2023, Colantonio's WolfEye cohort (and fellow Arkane veteran) Julien Roby said the studio had signed a deal with venture fund Galaxy Interactive to develop a "more ambitious" new game, and more than a year later it sounds like we'll finally start getting at least an idea about what it actually is.
"We'll reveal a bit more about our next game in a few days," Colantonio tweeted today. "Fans of the previous 1st person games I was involved with (Dishonored and Prey) will be happy."
Frankly, I'm already happy just hearing that I'm going to be happy about whatever WolfEye has on the go. In case there was any doubt, I've been a big fan of Arkane's work since the very start, and while I had some doubts about Weird West—a third-person immersive sim didn't strike me as likely to be very, well, immersive—it very quickly pulled me in and far exceeded my expectations.
I had to admit that I was a little disappointed that Colantonio didn't mention his earlier work in today's tease—I'm still holding out hope for Arx 2—but he explained the omission in a separate reply tweet: "I could have mentioned them too. But only so many characters in a tweet." Fair enough, and now I'm really excited.
Roby and WolfEye joined in on the teasing too:
Alas, whatever WolfEye reveals when the time comes, it doesn't sound like we'll be getting an in-depth look at the new game: Colantonio said the studio is showing it to "industry partners" but not to the press or public just yet. "Can't wait though," he added—a sentiment I wholeheartedly share.
