Gaming · Saturday, 24 October 2026

01 Briefing what happened

Arkane Lyon, the French Xbox studio making Marvel's Blade, nears a 13 November deadline under French law to find a buyer, and Microsoft adds a month to the talks

Microsoft wants to close Arkane Lyon, maker of Dishonored, but a French law makes it look for a buyer first; 217 jobs and a nearly finished Marvel game hang on the talks.

217

jobs at Arkane Lyon that the closure plan would end

the studio has made games for 27 years, starting with Arx Fatalis in 2002 [2]

3 months

the search for a buyer French law demands before a big company closes a site

it applies to companies with more than 1,000 staff, under a 2014 law [7]

13 Nov

the day the consultation with staff was due to end

Microsoft says it has now added one more month [6][3]

3,200

Xbox jobs being cut in the 'reset' announced in July

four other studios were closed or let go in the same plan [1][3]

The lead story — what happened

Arkane Lyon, the French studio that made the Dishonored games and Deathloop, faces a 13 November deadline before Microsoft can move to close it, Le Monde, a French newspaper, reported. [1][6]
Microsoft told the studio's managers on 16 July that it intended to close it, ten days after the Xbox cuts were announced. [3][8]
A French law from 2014, the Florange law, makes a company with more than 1,000 staff spend at least three months looking for a buyer before it closes a site. [7][2]
That rule is why Arkane is still open while other Xbox studios were let go in July. [1][8]
217 people work at the studio. [4][7]
Microsoft says it is looking for a partner to finish and sell Marvel's Blade, the superhero game Arkane announced in December 2023. [7][2]
Microsoft told PC Gamer it has added one more month to the consultation, the legally required talks with staff, so that it can keep looking. [3]
A union official told Rock Paper Shotgun the buyer deadline is separate from the talks and is still being negotiated. [4]
Documents published on a French government website on 10 August describe a plan to stop all the studio's work and dismiss every employee if no buyer is found. [3]
Microsoft says those papers are part of the required process and are not a final decision. [3]
A union official says the job-cut talks are going badly, and the unions have not ruled out taking Microsoft to court. [7][8]
Jason Schreier, a Bloomberg reporter, said several ways to save the studio are being explored and he would be surprised if it closed. [6][8]
Raphael Colantonio, who founded Arkane, asked in public how much it would cost to buy the studio back, perhaps in jest, Kotaku reports. [5]

Who is involved

Arkane Lyon

a French games studio of 217 people, owned by Microsoft since 2021; it is making Marvel's Blade
Microsoft and Xbox boss Asha Sharma

the owner; it wants to close or sell the studio as part of a plan to cut 3,200 Xbox jobs
Printemps Ecologique and the STJV

the studio's own union and France's union for games workers; they want more time, and jobs at other Xbox studios for the staff
Le Monde

a French daily newspaper; its report on 23 October set out the deadline and the July papers

How it unfolded

2021 Microsoft buys ZeniMax, the owner of Arkane, and the studio with it [1]
Dec 2023 Marvel's Blade is announced; little has been shown since [2]
16 Jul 2026 Arkane's managers are told Microsoft intends to close the studio [3]
10 Aug closure papers appear on a French government website [3]
13 Nov the staff consultation was due to end; Microsoft has added a month [6][3]
End 2026 the July papers schedule the shutdown to begin, running into early 2027 [7]

Where this points

The consultation now runs about a month past 13 November, and the next sign is whether a buyer or a partner for Arkane and Marvel's Blade is named before that longer period ends. [3][6]

Signals on this beat

The bar and the word are our reading of how hard each one is pushing, and the arrow is where it is heading.

Owners cutting studios High↑

Microsoft told Arkane Lyon in July that it meant to close the studio. [3] Analysts say EA closed BioWare because its buyout left it paying $1.8 billion a year in interest. [14] Xbox's first chief operating officer left after three months, amid reports of more Xbox layoffs. [11]

Game worlds sold to screens Building↑

Netflix reportedly offered Xbox $500 million for seven years of films and shows from its games. [9] Prime Video will show Fallout Shelter: The Experiment, a contest based on the Fallout games, from 13 January. [58] Spin Master, a toy company, added three Paramount horror films to its card game. [59]

AI in the studios Building↑

The maker of Future? No Thanks! removed AI voices from his game and offered refunds. [29] Creative Assembly says it is looking into AI-made art in its Shogun 2 remaster. [27] Hollywood's biggest crew union hired its first officer to deal with AI. [54]

Players pushing back High↑

A petition to save the next Mass Effect passed 76,500 signatures. [16] Xbox owners complained when a Call of Duty advert replaced their own home-screen pictures. [23] A San Francisco zombie game came down after city officials condemned it. [31]

The rest of the day

32 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

02
Analysts tie BioWare's end to EA's debt

Two analysts say EA's closure of BioWare followed from its buyout. [14] Joost van Dreunen told IGN that EA carries $18 billion of debt from its sale to Saudi Arabia's state fund and two investment firms. [14] The interest alone is about $1.8 billion a year, more than the $1.5 billion EA earns before interest, tax and some accounting costs. [14] PC Gamer explains that in such a buyout the loans sit on the bought company itself. [15] Thomas Marrone, who produces the game Star Trek Online, compared breaking up proven teams to setting fire to equipment. [19]

Yearly interest on EA's debt$1.80bn
EA's yearly earnings before interest$1.50bn
The interest bill is bigger than what EA earns before paying it, by van Dreunen's figures.

Why it matters — Van Dreunen said a 50-person team on a game years from launch is the easiest cost to cut. [14] That puts teams like BioWare's first in line when interest is bigger than earnings.
03
Netflix and Xbox split $300 million apart

Netflix offered Microsoft's Xbox $500 million for the sole right to turn its games into films and shows for seven years, Puck, a news site, reported. [9][10] Xbox boss Asha Sharma's team asked for $800 million, and Netflix withdrew. [9][10] The two firms already make Minecraft and Diablo cartoons and a Gears of War film together. [9] Xbox told Puck it had record interest in its games, and Puck says Xbox is now making smaller deals with more partners. [10]

$500mNetflix's offer
$800mXbox's ask
Both figures are for the same seven years of sole film and TV rights; the gap is where the deal fell apart.

Why it matters — Xbox's names now go to several companies at once: Diablo at Netflix, Fallout at Prime Video, a Call of Duty film at Paramount and a Minecraft sequel at Warner Bros. [10] Each of those deals is smaller than the one Netflix wanted.
04
Xbox's first operations chief leaves after three months

Helen Chiang left Microsoft on 23 October, three months after she became Xbox's first chief operating officer, an internal memo seen by The Verge said. [11][13] She had worked at Microsoft for 21 years and ran Minecraft before the promotion. [12] The job was created in July as part of the Xbox 'reset', with charge of profit and loss across games, consoles and services. [12] Microsoft would not say why she left. [11]

Why it matters — Her duties are split among other Xbox leaders for now. [13] The Verge notes the memo was short and that more Xbox layoffs are rumoured for this month, November and January. [11]
05
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 comes out

Activision released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on 23 October, made by its studio Infinity Ward. [22][20] Reviews give it 84 out of 100 on Metacritic, a site that averages critics' scores. [20] Last year's game, Black Ops 7, sold below other games in the series, according to outside tracking. [20] It is the first Call of Duty on a Nintendo console since 2013, on the Switch 2. [20] A day-one extra pays into Activision's charity for veterans. [22]

Why it matters — Activision needs this game to do well after Black Ops 7 sold poorly, The Guardian says. [21] Nintendo players get a Call of Duty at launch for the first time in 13 years. [20]
06
Battlefield 6 pulls its Mass Effect items

Mass Effect weapon charms, patches and other items that had appeared unbuyable in Battlefield 6's menus have been removed, Eurogamer reports. [17] Players had expected them for N7 Day, the series' fan day on 7 November. [17] Both games belong to EA, which closed BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect, this week. [18] A fan petition asking EA to sell Mass Effect or give it to another studio passed 76,500 signatures. [16]

Why it matters — EA owns the Mass Effect name with or without the studio that made it. [16] Only EA can decide whether it is sold, shelved or used again.
07
HBO's team takes over Paramount+'s shows

Jane Wiseman, head of original shows at Paramount+, a streaming service, is leaving. [47][48] Casey Bloys, who now runs streaming for Skydance, the company that owns both Paramount+ and HBO Max, set out his new team on 23 October. [48] HBO Max's head of original shows, Sarah Aubrey, will also run Paramount+'s. [47] HBO Max has about 140 million subscribers worldwide and Paramount+ about 82 million. [47]

Why it matters — Shows for both services now go through HBO's managers. [47] Variety says it is unclear how many more Paramount+ staff will go. [48]
08
Harry Potter series costs over $200 million so far

HBO has spent around $200 million so far on its Harry Potter series, filings in the UK show. [45] Plum Jam Productions, the company making it, took in 130.6 million pounds in 2025 and 18.4 million pounds in 2024. [46][45] The money also builds sets, and a school for the child actors, meant to last seven seasons. [45] Only two seasons are ordered, and the show starts on Christmas Day. [45]

Why it matters — A source told Deadline the series will cost about as much as the last season of Game of Thrones. [46] HBO is paying up front for seven seasons of a show it has only ordered two of. [45]
09
Sony shows how its anime business fits together

Sony published a blog post setting out its anime companies, Cartoon Brew reports. [43] Aniplex, in Japan, makes anime, and Crunchyroll, an anime streaming service owned by Aniplex and Sony Pictures, shows it worldwide. [43] Crunchyroll had more than 21 million paying subscribers in March 2026, in over 200 countries. [43] Sony also owns the studios A-1 Pictures and CloverWorks, and set up Hayate in 2025 to make anime for viewers outside Japan. [43]

Why it matters — Sony makes the show, streams it and sells the music, toys and games, so it keeps the money from every stage. [43] Demon Slayer earns for Sony that way, through films, music and merchandise as well as streaming. [43]
10
Dead by Daylight loses Chucky on 24 November

Behaviour Interactive, maker of the horror game Dead by Daylight, will stop selling Chucky, the killer doll from the Child's Play films, on 24 November. [24] Players who already bought him keep him. [24] The game lost Michael Myers from Halloween in January and Pinhead from Hellraiser in 2025. [24] Behaviour has not said why, and IGN notes that fans usually blame the licence, the deal that lets it use a character. [24]

Why it matters — A rented character leaves the store when the deal ends, and players who did not buy him will meet him less often in matches. [24] A half-price sale runs until he goes. [24]
11
Xbox's Call of Duty advert covers players' backgrounds

Xbox owners who switched on their console on 23 October found a full-screen advert for Modern Warfare 4 replacing their own background picture. [23] It can be turned off in the console's settings. [23] Xbox already tests free cloud games paid for by adverts. [23] Its strategy chief, Matthew Ball, says making games now costs too much and buyers will not pay more, so adverts can help fill the gap. [23]

Why it matters — Activision is owned by Microsoft, so Xbox is advertising its own game on its own console. [23] Every Xbox owner sees the advert, whether or not they play Call of Duty. [23]
12
Capcom has Street Fighter 6 hitbox data taken down

Capcom's legal team asked Ultimate Frame Data, a website for fighting-game players, to remove its Street Fighter 6 data by 30 October. [25] The site showed hitboxes, the invisible shapes that decide whether an attack lands. [25] Capcom says that data can only be pulled out with mods it does not allow. [25] The site's owner removed it, writing 'not my choice'. [25]

Why it matters — Competitive players studied that data to get better before tournaments. [25] The same site's Super Smash Bros. data from Nintendo is still up. [25]
13
Creative Assembly blames an outside studio for Shogun 2

Roger Collum, who runs the Total War series at Creative Assembly, apologised for Shogun 2's Complete Edition. [26] Sega, the publisher, pulled the remake of the 2011 strategy game from sale two days after launch. [27] Collum said it was not made by his studio and skipped its usual checks. [26] Steam lists Mataboo, a studio in Warsaw, as a developer. [27][28] He said Creative Assembly bans AI-made art and is investigating its use in the game. [26]

Why it matters — The Total War name on the box is Creative Assembly's, whoever did the work. [28] A small senior team is now working with Sega and the outside studio on a fix. [28]
14
Hollywood's crew union hires an AI officer

IATSE, the union for more than 170,000 film and TV crew in the US and Canada, has hired its first labour and technology officer. [54] Jillian Arnold, a former video engineer and local union president, led its AI committee in its 2024 contract talks. [54] The Animation Guild, which represents animators, is part of IATSE. [55] Arnold will work on contracts, retraining and government policy. [54]

Why it matters — Companies may use AI tools in one country and not the other, a union official said. [55] Arnold says the union wants crew to help build AI tools, so that the tools work for them instead of replacing them. [54]
15
GameMaker will let developers sell games for free

GameMaker, a tool for making 2D games owned by the web-browser company Opera, will drop its licence fee for selling games built on its new engine core from 1 January 2027. [32][33] Until now, selling a game meant buying a professional licence. [33] Games for PC, phones and the web will be free to release. [32] Releasing on PS5, Xbox or Switch 2 will still need a paid enterprise licence. [33]

Why it matters — Many small developers have moved to Godot, a free engine, since a row over Unity's fees in 2023, Game Developer notes. [33] GameMaker now gives away release on PC and phones and still charges for consoles. [33]
16
Phantom Blade Zero sells 500,000 before release

Phantom Blade Zero, an action game from S-Game, a studio in China, has sold about 500,000 copies on Steam through pre-orders, an analyst estimates. [38] Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics puts that at about $24 million before its release on 28 October. [38] It has 2.5 million Steam wishlists, a list of players who asked to be told when it comes out. [38] China is its biggest market so far. [38]

Why it matters — The estimate puts it ahead of Gears of War: E-Day on Steam at this stage. [38] More games from Chinese studios are now selling well around the world, Eurogamer notes. [38]
17
Miyamoto is the first game maker in Japan's Order of Culture

Shigeru Miyamoto, who created Mario and Zelda at Nintendo, will receive Japan's Order of Culture, the first game maker to do so. [34][35] The Emperor will present it on 3 November, Japan's Culture Day. [34] The honour was set up in 1937. [34] Miyamoto said his games were made by many people, and he accepts it for them. [34] He also said AI may change the work, but people will still have a role. [36]

Why it matters — Japan's government gives the honour for work that advanced Japanese culture, and this is the first time it has gone to games. [34] Last year Yuji Horii, creator of Dragon Quest, received the Order of the Rising Sun. [34]
18
Nvidia invests in Higgsfield, an AI video maker

Nvidia, which makes the chips AI runs on, and the investment firm TCV have put money into Higgsfield, a company that makes images and video with AI. [53] Higgsfield raised $400 million in August at a value of $5.4 billion. [53] It says it reached $1 billion a year in sales in September. [53] It runs on Nvidia's computing and makes about 150 million videos and images a month. [53]

Why it matters — Nvidia is investing in a customer that buys its computing power. [53] Brands, studios and creators want more video than film crews can make, Higgsfield's boss says. [53]
19
Territory Group opens an AI film studio

Territory Group, the company behind film effects studios Territory Studio and Cantina Creative, has launched Lux Meridian. [52] The new studio will make films, series and animated films with AI built into the work. [52] It uses custom AI models from Adobe built only from material the studio has the rights to. [52] It first tried this on director Brad Peyton's film Dark Zone. [52]

Why it matters — Its founding teams worked on Avatar and Dune, so the AI work comes from people with big-film experience. [52] It calls itself a film studio, not a technology company. [52]
20
Two companies plan 12 kids' cartoons straight to viewers

The Gotham Group, a Los Angeles firm that manages animation writers and directors, and Toonstar, an animation studio, will make up to 12 children's series together. [51] The shows will go straight to online platforms such as YouTube. [51] The two firms say children's TV has been hit harder than any other part of the industry, as channels cut shows for kids. [51]

Why it matters — Fewer channels are buying children's cartoons. [51] Creators are going online to reach viewers directly, without a channel in between.
21
A 10-million-view pilot becomes a series

Glitch Productions, the studio behind The Amazing Digital Circus, has released the trailer for the first full season of Gameoverse. [50] Its pilot drew 10 million views in its first three days in May. [50] The cartoon follows a heroine who ends up helping villains stop heroes in other game worlds. [50] Erica Lindbeck, who voiced characters in Persona 5 and Spider-Man games, plays the lead. [50]

Why it matters — The season was ordered after the pilot's success online. [50] A studio that releases a pilot free can see how many people watch before it pays for a whole run.
22
Ghost in the Shell gets another anime

Bandai Namco Filmworks announced a new anime project for The Ghost in the Shell, made again by the studio Science SARU. [44] It follows Science SARU's TV series of the famous cyberpunk story. [44] The format was not given. [44] The anime is paid for by a production committee of Bandai Namco Filmworks, Kodansha, Science SARU and Production I.G. [44]

Why it matters — In a production committee, several companies split an anime's cost and its earnings. That way no single company carries the whole risk.
23
Fallout Shelter becomes a contest show

Prime Video will release Fallout Shelter: The Experiment, a reality contest based on the Fallout games, on 13 January 2027. [58] Contestants compete in mock bomb shelters for a $1 million prize. [58] It is made by Studio Lambert and Kilter Films, with Bethesda Game Studios, which makes the games. [58] Four episodes come first, then three a week. [58]

Why it matters — Microsoft owns Bethesda through ZeniMax, so its Fallout name now earns as games, a Prime drama and a contest show. [7][9][58] Xbox says it is making smaller deals with more partners, and Fallout at Prime Video is one of them. [10]
24
Darkwing Duck returns after 35 years

Disney confirmed a new Darkwing Duck series for Disney Plus, its streaming service. [49] The duck superhero first appeared in a 1991 cartoon that ran for 91 episodes. [49] Mark Hamill voices him, with Seth Rogen as his sidekick Launchpad. [49] The creator, Tad Stones, advised on the show. [49] The old series is already on Disney Plus. [49]

Why it matters — Disney is reviving a cartoon it already owns rather than starting a new one. [49] The 1991 episodes sit on the same service, so new viewers can find the old show too. [49]
25
Amazon buys a children's book series for a cartoon film

Amazon MGM Studios is making an animated film of Game of Pets, a new children's book series by the Australian author Aaron Blabey. [56][57] His earlier books became DreamWorks' two Bad Guys films, which took close to $500 million worldwide. [56] Rideback, producer of the live-action Lilo & Stitch, which passed $1 billion, will make it with Foundation Media Partners. [56]

Why it matters — The series is new, with one book out, so Amazon is betting on the author's earlier hits. [57] Foundation Media Partners, one of the producers, was also behind the Bad Guys films. [56]
26
Horror films join a trading card game

Spin Master, a toy company, has added A Quiet Place, Sleepy Hollow and Smile, three Paramount horror films, to its card game Hellbreak. [59] Paramount's Friday the 13th was already in it. [59] The game also uses monsters from Universal, AMC, Blumhouse and Lionsgate. [59] The first set reaches shops in January 2027. [59]

Why it matters — Film studios earn again from monsters they already own. [59] The card game gets famous names that it did not have to build.
27
A developer removes AI voices and offers refunds

Paolo Pedercini, who makes games as Molleindustria, removed two AI voices and two AI music loops from his game Future? No Thanks!. [30] He had admitted the AI use earlier in the week, though he has written that AI is an anti-human project. [30] He offers refunds by PayPal or Venmo to buyers who feel betrayed. [29] He says the game is now only slightly worse. [29]

Why it matters — He made the change after angry posts online and press coverage. [29] He says the AI voices kept causing what he called annoyances and bad optics. [29]
28
A San Francisco zombie game is taken down

Pierre-Louis Biojout removed Tenderloin Night Shift, a shooting game he made with AI tools in a weekend. [31] The game had players shoot 'zombies' in the Tenderloin, a San Francisco district known for crime and homelessness. [31] Mayor Daniel Lurie rejected it, and a local official called it dehumanising. [31] Biojout apologised, refunded his advertisers and gave the game's money to a charity that helps people with addiction. [31]

Why it matters — AI tools let one person make a game and sell adverts in it within a weekend. [31] The game sat on his own website, so no store checked it before the city objected. [31]
29
Arrowhead holds off on Helldivers 3

Arrowhead Game Studios, the maker of Helldivers 2, says 95% of its roughly 150 staff still work on that game. [40] A small team is trying out ideas for the next one. [40] Johan Pilestedt, its creative chief, says a sequel would make players start over. [40] He says Helldivers 3 only makes sense if it is so different that both games can exist together. [40]

Why it matters — Pilestedt wants Helldivers 2 to be a lasting hobby, like LEGO or Warhammer. [40] A sequel would split its players across two games.
30
Peak passes 23 million, and its makers move on

Peak, a climbing game from Landfall Games in Sweden, has sold more than 23 million copies, its business chief Rebecca Lautner said. [39] Landfall still plans to move on to other games. [39] The studio drops any game that is not working after one month. [39] Its publishing arm, Evil Landfall, backed this year's hit How to Fish. [39]

Why it matters — Landfall stops weak games early, so most of its time goes to ones that work. [39] It is choosing new games over squeezing more money from one hit.
31
Wo Long 2 changes after players test it

Koei Tecmo and its studio Team Ninja published what players said about the test version of Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember. [41] The test ran from 16 to 30 September. [41] They will simplify one combat skill, make spells stronger, and speed up loading. [41] The full game will carry those changes. [41]

Why it matters — A test version lets a studio fix a game before buyers pay for it. [41] Players who took part shaped what everyone else will get.
32
Graphics card prices rise again in China

Wholesale prices for Nvidia's RTX 50 graphics cards are rising again in China, ChannelGate, a hardware news site, reports. [42] The 16GB RTX 5080 rose about 2,000 yuan, roughly $300, to around $2,200. [42] Asus, a big card maker, also raised its prices. [42] A graphics card is the part of a PC that draws a game's pictures. [42]

Why it matters — Wholesale prices reach shop prices around the world, PC Gamer warns. [42] The cheapest RTX 5080 it could find in the US already costs $1,850. [42]
33
Factorio gets its last big update

Wube Software released Factorio 2.1, the final major update to its factory-building game. [37] It brings more than 30 smaller fixes and features. [37] Factorio first went on sale in early access, an unfinished version players can buy, in 2016 and stayed there four years. [37] Wube will keep fixing bugs while it moves on to new game ideas. [37]

Why it matters — People who bought the game in 2016 are still getting new features. [37] It shaped later factory games such as Satisfactory. [37]

02 Lesson why it matters

Why the right to be the only buyer costs more than a share

An owner can sell one game world to many companies at once, so a buyer who wants it alone must pay for every deal the owner turns away.

The twist

Netflix priced the films and shows it planned to make from Xbox games. Xbox priced every other deal it would have to refuse for seven years, so its number came out $300 million higher.

The picture

What Netflix offered$500m · 63%
The rest of Xbox's ask$300m · 38%

Xbox's $800 million ask, split into the part Netflix would pay and the part it would not, from Puck's figures.

How it works

An owner can rent out one game world for many uses at once
An exclusive deal asks it to turn every other buyer away for years
So the owner prices in all the deals it gives up
The buyer prices only what it will make itself
When the two numbers are far apart, the owner sells smaller pieces to several buyers

The same force, elsewhere today

Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

Netflix and Xbox split $300 million apart

Xbox would not give one service seven years of sole rights for Netflix's price, so it is selling smaller pieces to Prime Video, Paramount and Warner instead.
Fallout Shelter becomes a contest show

the Fallout name already has a drama on Prime Video, and a second deal adds a contest show on the same service, one use at a time.
Horror films join a trading card game

Paramount rents its monsters for one use, a card game, and the same game also rents monsters from four other studios.
Sony shows how its anime business fits together

Sony owns both the studio and the streaming service, so it never has to buy sole rights from anyone.

Where you've seen this

Football on TV

a broadcaster pays far more to show every match alone than to share them with a rival

Shopping centres

a shop that wants no rival on its floor pays a higher rent for it

Music streaming

an album kept on one service must earn what it loses on all the others

The catch

This only works while other buyers are really waiting; Xbox says it had record interest, and if that interest fades, the ask has nothing behind it.

And the whole of it

A viewer sees only which service a show landed on. Behind that is a price two companies argued over, and part of it was for the deals the owner would have had to refuse.

03 Truth what's really going on

What is really going on

Microsoft decided in July to close Arkane Lyon, and a French law is the only reason the studio is still open: it makes a company this size spend three months looking for a buyer first. [3][7] EA closed BioWare, its studio in Canada, this week, and only now are fans and a Canadian politician asking for it to be sold, after it has already shut. [14][16]

Why it works on us — A loved name on the door, Dishonored or Mass Effect, turns a closure about debt and profit into a story about betrayed players. [14][8]

Who gains

Arkane Lyon's 217 staff — The Florange law gives them months of talks and a required search for a buyer, and Microsoft has now added a month. [7][3]
Prime Video, Paramount and Warner Bros. — With no exclusive deal at Netflix, Xbox is selling its games' film and TV rights in smaller pieces to several companies. [10]
HBO's managers in the merged Skydance streaming arm — Their team stays as it was, and HBO Max's head of shows also takes over Paramount+'s. [47][48]
Nvidia — It has invested in Higgsfield, an AI video company that runs on Nvidia's computing, so the money backs one of its own customers. [53]
Small developers who use GameMaker — From 2027 they can sell on PC, phones and the web without buying a licence, though consoles still need one. [32][33]

Who pays

Arkane Lyon's 217 staff — If no buyer appears, July's papers plan to dismiss every employee, with the shutdown starting at the end of 2026. [3][7]
BioWare's former staff and Mass Effect's players — Analysts say EA's buyout debt costs $1.8 billion a year in interest, and a team years from release was the easiest cost to cut. [14]
Xbox owners — A Call of Duty advert replaced their own home-screen pictures on launch day, unless they switch it off in the settings. [23]
Street Fighter 6 players who study hitboxes — Capcom's legal letter took down the site they used to practise for tournaments. [25]
Dead by Daylight players — Chucky leaves the store on 24 November, and those who did not buy him will meet him less often. [24]
Paramount+'s original-shows team — Its head is leaving, and Variety says it is unclear how many more staff will go. [48]

What nobody knows yet

Open questions from across today’s stories — ours included.

01

Who could buy Arkane Lyon, and whether Marvel's Blade would go with it.

A union official says several kinds of takeover are being considered, and Microsoft says it wants a partner to finish and sell Blade, but no buyer has been named. [6][7] Jason Schreier says several paths are being explored. [6]
02

How close Marvel's Blade is to being finished.

The union says it is near the end of production. [8] People close to the studio told PC Gamer it still has years of work to go. [3] We cannot check either claim.
03

Which date actually decides Arkane's fate.

Le Monde gives 13 November as the end of the consultation. [6] Microsoft says it has added a month, and a union official says the buyer deadline is separate and still being negotiated. [3][4]
04

Why Helen Chiang left Xbox after three months.

Microsoft says it does not discuss personnel matters. [11] The Verge reads the short memo and the split of her duties as signs it was not a resignation, which nobody has confirmed. [11]
05

Whether Netflix and Xbox were ever close to a deal.

The $500 million and $800 million figures come from one report, by Puck, and Netflix declined to comment. [10] Xbox called Netflix a valued partner without confirming the numbers. [9]
06

Who made Shogun 2's Complete Edition, and how its AI art got in.

Creative Assembly blames an outside partner without naming it, and Steam lists Mataboo as a developer. [26][27] The studio says the AI art is being investigated, and Kotaku has asked Mataboo for its side. [28]
07

Why Dead by Daylight is losing Chucky.

Behaviour Interactive has not said, and IGN asked it for comment. [24] Fans blame the licence, but that is a guess. [24]
08

How many copies Modern Warfare 4 has sold.

Activision has given no figure. [20] Phantom Blade Zero's 500,000 pre-orders are also an analyst's estimate from Steam data, not the company's count. [38]
09

What HBO's Harry Potter series will cost in all.

The filings may not show every cost, because the company that holds them has also served other shows. [45] HBO declined to comment. [45]

04 Hope carry this

Shigeru Miyamoto, who created Mario and Zelda, will be the first game maker to receive Japan's Order of Culture, from the Emperor on 3 November. He said the games were made by many people, and he accepts the honour for them.

Also true today

Wube Software released Factorio 2.1, the last big update to its factory game, with more than 30 fixes and features for the people who bought it, ten years after it first went on sale.
From 1 January 2027, developers can sell games made with GameMaker's new engine core on PC, phones and the web without paying for a licence.
Gameoverse, a cartoon pilot that Glitch Productions put online in May, drew 10 million views in three days and is now a full series.