Dishonored Series Isn’t Actually on Hold, Says Arkane
by Alessio Palumbo
Dishonored fans can rejoice, for their beloved franchise isn't technically on hold, according to Arkane Lyon Game Director Dinga Bakaba.
In an interview with IGN, he said:
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.
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.
For the record, the 'initial quote' belonged to Ricardo Bare, who back in 2018 said:
I can’t say definitively what might happen down the road […] but Dishonored is resting for now. As far as pure immersive sims go, I don’t know if we’re going to continue to make like carbon copies – this qualifies as an immersive sim and it’s the only thing we’re ever going to make. The things that are important to us as a studio are coherent, deep world building and environmental storytelling – we’re always going to craft spaces that you feel like you’re visiting, whether it’s Dunwall or Talos 1.
Either way, according to Bakaba, Arkane wouldn't just go back to Emily and Corvo as their storyline is done in their opinion.
It’s something where we had a story to tell about the Kaldwins and the Outsider, and that story is over. 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. 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.
By the way, you can get Arkane's Arx Fatalis game for free as part of the studio's 20th-anniversary celebrations. Check out this article to learn exactly how.