Bethesda Didn’t Want Dishonored 3, So Arkane Made Deathloop

Arkane co-founder Raphaël Colantonio has shared that Bethesda apparently weren’t interested in a Dishonored 3, which eventually led to Deathloop being greenlit.

Speaking to Rock Paper Shotgun, Colantonio explained that Deathloop started life as a “small game,” that Arkane would use as an opportunity to learn more about developing a multiplayer game before its next bigger project. “Bethesda wanted us to do something,” Colantonio said. “They didn’t quite know where we were going after Dishonored. ‘Do we want Dishonored 3? I don’t know, let’s make something simple and short before, and let’s see.'”

“And then [Deathloop] became a big thing, over the years. That was the funny thing: ‘Nah, we don’t wanna do Dishonored 3, but if you can pitch us a small game, something that maybe has multiplayer so we can learn multiplayer, something that maybe has microtransactions, maybe something with a lot of recycling, like a roguelike.'”

Arkane Austin had notably released Mooncrash, a roguelike expansion for the commercially unsuccessful Prey, at the time. Though Colantonio did note that the “roguelike thing was a little bit in the air,” as “almost everybody in the world was into some kind of roguelike. So it felt like, ‘Yeah, maybe it’s the way to go, you recycle gameplay, you take some of the elements of the world and remix content constantly.'”

In turn, Deathloop grew more and more, somewhat leaving the roguelike angle behind, but keeping in those elements of repetition. Colantonio noted how it probably would have cost the same amount to develop Dishonored 3 as it ended up costing to make Deathloop, but “back then it was not meant to be.”

Ironically enough, Deathloop could arguably be seen as an alternative Dishonored 3, as last year it was confirmed that the pair of titles are set in the same universe.