Summary
- Arkane Lyon, the studio behind Dishonored and Deathloop, is surprising fans with a single-player, third-person Blade video game, deviating from its usual first-person games.
- The Blade game will have an original story and be set in a vampire-ravaged Paris.
- It's possible the Blade game will be Xbox exclusive, but that has yet to be confirmed.
Arkane Lyon, the studio behind Dishonored and Deathloop, is making a single-player Blade video game. Prior to The Game Awards 2023, there were plenty of rumors and leaks about what would be shown at the event. One of the biggest leaks suggested that Arkane Studios would have a new game to show, with many speculating about what Arkane's next game could possibly be.
The leading theory was that Arkane was going to announce Dishonored 3 at The Game Awards. After all, Dishonored 3's existence has already been leaked, and so one has to imagine that a reveal is just a matter of time. Others speculated that Arkane would announce a Deathloop sequel or perhaps a follow-up to its popular 2017 Prey game. While many fans had theories about what Arkane would announce at The Game Awards 2023, it's safe to say no one expected Arkane to announce a Blade video game.
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Blade is described as a "mature, single-player, third-person" game, which is quite the surprise considering Arkane has primarily made first-person games. Made in part to celebrate Blade's 50th anniversary, the Blade game from Arkane will feature an original story and be set in a Paris being ravaged by vampires. It has yet to be confirmed if Blade will be Xbox exclusive or if it will debut as a day one Game Pass game, but since it's being made by Arkane and published by Bethesda, one has to imagine that is a distinct possibility.
If Blade is an Xbox exclusive game, it will mean that Xbox and PlayStation each have their own exclusive Marvel Comics games. On the PlayStation side, there's Spider-Man and the upcoming Wolverine game, while Xbox will potentially have Blade. However, the decision not to mention Game Pass or Xbox at all in the Blade announcement leaves the door open for the project to be multi-platform despite coming from an Xbox-owned studio.
Some fans may also be surprised that Arkane is making another game featuring vampires. Vampire shooter game Redfall was a disaster for Arkane, releasing to widely negative reviews and losing its playerbase almost immediately. One would think Arkane would purposefully stay away from vampires after the negative reaction to Redfall, but it seems that hasn't deterred the studio. Blade being a third-person game also seems like it could be a risk considering the games Arkane is known for, but there's no denying that the concept has a ton of potential. Regardless, it will definitely be interesting to see more of the Blade game.