217 jobs are on the line at the studio, report claims
Negotiations over the future of Dishonored and Deathloop developers Arkane Lyon are reportedly seeing "several forms of takeover" considered as a November deadline looms for the divorce Xbox set in motion back in July. French law makes the process of shuttering or chucking away studios a lot harder for companies like Microsoft than it is elsewhere in the world, hence Arkane's fate still being up in the air while production work on Marvel's Blade nears completion according to the report.
French publication Le Monde are behind this paywalled report on how the negotiations between the two sides are going. They note that due to a French law brought in as of 2014, companies with more than 1000 staff have to search for a buyer for three months before they can throw up their hands and shut up shop. In the case of Arkane Lyon, the report says 217 jobs are at risk.
The deadline for these consultations with Arkane's Social and Economic Committee (via Gematsu) is November 13th, meaning there's not much time left to find a buyer and get a deal sorted or come to some other arrangement. The report cites a representative of the Printemps Écologique union, who along with the Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Video (STJV) union seemingly aren't too happy with Microsoft's attitude throughout the process so far.
Microsoft have told Le Monde that they're "actively seeking a partner to support the next phase of development and enable the commercialisation of the [Marvel’s Blade] project". According to a union rep cited in the report, the superhero game is "nearing the end" of production, with the unions understandably backing Arkane's work and hoping that it will see the light of day.
Xbox wrote as part of an announcement of layoffs in September - the second of multiple waves in a mass chopping that still isn't over as of writing - that they expected consultation over how Arkane will move forward "to continue through the end of the year".
Solidarity to all of the developers at Arkane and here's hoping these negotiations do end with a result that keeps the maximum amount of them in work and making the games they want to make.