The Dishonored Series Has Not Been Put on Hold, Says Arkane

The death of Dishonored has been greatly exaggerated. In an interview with IGN Middle East to celebrate the studio’s 20th year anniversary, Arkane Studio’s Co-Creative Director Dinga Bakaba said that the rumors of putting the Dishonored series on hold was “misquoted” and no such decision has been taken so far.

In 2018, Arkane Lead Designer Ricardo Bare had said that the series was “resting for now”, giving uncertainty to a possible new game in the series. The particular quote blew out of proportions amidst the news that Dishonored 2 had sold below expectations, having managed to sell 2.5 million copies on consoles and PC combined, as compared to the more than 3 million copies of Dishonored sold on PC alone.

However, Bakaba said that while they won’t be revisiting the Kaldwin storyline again, no one has pulled the plug on the Dishonored series yet. “Well, first of all, it’s weird because for us as a studio, we never did a sequel to a game we made before. It was interesting to make and everything. But the rumors of putting the IP on hold was highly exaggerated and was misquoted,” he said.

“You know, it’s not necessarily the same thing when you are talking about what could be done, and you are telling a journalist it’s not what we are doing right now. It’s really not the same thing. So, I don’t think there was a decision to put Dishonored series on hold. I think the initial quote was over interpreted.”

As for what the future entails is uncertain, but the series is unlikely to return to the Kaldwin storyline as that part of the story is complete and done for. “It’s something where we had a story to tell about the Kaldwins and the Outsider, and that story is over,” he said. “So, whatever happens, that Dishonored is complete. This is the best, and most honest answer we can give but, in any case, I don’t think we will be revisiting that [the Kaldwin storyline]. That’s clearly a creative choice. Some other people might have thought differently, you know, but that was a creative choice to not revisit that part of the Dishonored world.”

Bakaba also added that Arkane is not a studio “of one game, and I don’t think we will ever be.” During the interview, he explained that it’s important for them to continue to create new interactive sims that are heavy on world building and exploration, which are some of the key elements of an Arkane game. The studio recently announced Deathloop, an action-adventure game for PC and current gen consoles, that follows two assassins in a “mind-bending story” with “meticulously designed levels”. A release date for the game is yet to be revealed.