Arkane Studios (1999)
The Pinnacle of Immersive Sim Design, Dishonored, and Deathloop
Founded in 1999 in Lyon by Raphaël Colantonio, Arkane Studios is the peerless master of the immersive sim genre. Blending vertical architectural level design with emergent player agency, Arkane—spearheaded by visionaries including Harvey Smith and Dinga Bakaba—created the multi-award-winning Dishonored series, the cerebral sci-fi masterpiece Prey (2017), and Deathloop (2021).
From Arx Fatalis to the Whale-Punk Dunwall
Inspired by Looking Glass Studios, Arkane created Arx Fatalis (2002) before co-director Harvey Smith joined Colantonio. Dishonored (2012) realized the whaling dystopia of Dunwall through art director Viktor Antonov. Granting supernatural abilities like 'Blink' while allowing complete non-lethal ghost playthroughs, it won dozens of Game of the Year honors.
Architectural Genius and Deathloop
Dishonored 2 (2016) introduced Jindosh's shifting 'Clockwork Mansion' and the real-time time-traveling 'A Crack in the Slab', acclaimed as wonders of interactive level design. Directed by Dinga Bakaba, Deathloop (2021) trapped assassin Colt in a stylish 1960s Blackreef time loop, winning Best Game Direction at The Game Awards.