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Xbox weighs Ubisoft and other bids for Arkane Lyon and Blade

Microsoft is reviewing purchase offers for Arkane Lyon, including Ubisoft, with a December deadline still open and no deal accepted yet.

By Parker Patch, Industry & Business Reporter ·

Edited by Dot Matrix, Editor-in-Chief

An executive desk with a stack of bid documents, December calendar, and an Xbox-style controller under dim light.
Bids for Arkane Lyon and Blade sit on the table. Illustration generated by AI.

Xbox is weighing sale offers for Arkane Lyon and its Marvel’s Blade game rather than closing the French studio outright. Ubisoft is among the bidders. At least two other gaming companies have also put in pitches. Microsoft has not accepted any bid.12

The package on the table is the Lyon studio and the Blade project it is building. Xbox has also considered a sale to Arkane’s own management.13 A company representative said Xbox is exploring options ahead of a December deadline. The representative did not elaborate further.1

French labor rules forced a buyer search before any shutdown of the Lyon operation. Consultation and redundancy talks had been running toward a November 13 cutoff. That window was extended into the December process now under way.34 Earlier internal planning described a possible full wind-down starting at the end of 2026 and stretching through the first quarter of 2027 if no deal holds. As many as 217 jobs would be at stake in a closure.4

Arkane Lyon was already on the line in the Xbox reset. In June, Microsoft was weighing whether to cancel Blade and shutter the studio as part of wider cuts and spinoffs.5 Arkane Austin was closed in 2024. Double Fine, Compulsion Games, and Undead Labs left as independents. Two attempted deals for Ninja Theory fell through.24

Blade was announced with a cinematic trailer at The Game Awards in 2023. Little has been shown since. An internal ship date slipped to late 2027 after the game ran over budget.35 A completed sale would let the team finish the work. The project is expected to release within the next year or two if it stays alive.23

What we know is the bid count, the named suitor, the management option, and the December clock. What we do not know is which offer Microsoft will take, if it takes one at all. Outlook: the next memo or filing will show a buyer, a management deal, or a closed shop.

Our read: Offers keep the studio and Blade in play past a hard shutdown date, which is the immediate business fact. We have already argued that a sale beats closure for the headcount and the ship path. Ubisoft is one name on a short list, not a finished deal. The December deadline is the next hard number.

Footnotes

  1. Engadget, “Arkane and its Blade game may end up at Ubisoft as Xbox considers offers”. Retrieved November 3, 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. IGN, “Ubisoft Among Suitors Trying to Buy Marvel’s Blade, Dishonored Studio Arkane Lyon from Xbox”. Retrieved November 3, 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. Polygon, “Ubisoft makes bid to purchase Xbox studio on the brink of closure”. Retrieved November 3, 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. Eurogamer, “As devastating Xbox “reset” continues, Dishonored studio Arkane Lyon reportedly only has until November to find a new buyer before it’s closed”. Retrieved November 3, 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. The Verge, “Xbox weighs canceling Blade game and shuttering Arkane”. Retrieved November 3, 2026. ↩ ↩2

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