Arkane director Harvey Smith says Microsoft and Bethesda "fit perfectly"

Arkane Austin director Harvey Smith says Microsoft and Bethesda "fit perfectly", and that "it would be very, very difficult to find a better partner for Bethesda than Microsoft".

Smith commented on Microsoft's acquisition of ZeniMax Media - the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, Arkane Studios, and Doom developer id Software - in a recent interview with Spanish site Vandal. When asked whether there have been any noticeable changes as a result of the acquisition, the Arkane director said the "process is still developing".

"I can't say much about it because I don't know much either. I would say there has been no change at Arkane so far," Smith says, "but if I were to imagine the ideal partner, thinking of all the publishers and the people I know who work for them, it would be very, very difficult to find a better partner for Bethesda than Microsoft. They fit perfectly."

Smith directed both Dishonored and Dishonored 2 with Arkane founder Raphael Colantonio and worked as the lead designer on Deus Ex. With Arkane Lyon working on the upcoming assassinating multiplayer game Deathloop on the PS5, Smith is currently part of the studio based in Austin, Texas, and revealed in the interview that "I'm in something else, working with the guys who made Dishonored and Prey."

Although Smith isn't part of the team working on Deathloop, the director has played a "fairly early version of the game", and says the team's "dedication to the gameplay and player movements, to art, to scenery," is going to be "something fascinating to watch".

Here's how Deathloop could define a new generation of first-person shoots for PS5.

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Heather Wald is the Evergreen Editor, Games at GamesRadar+. Her writing career began on a student-led magazine at Bath Spa University, where she earned a BA (Hons) in English literature. Heather landed her first role writing about tech and games for Stuff Magazine shortly after graduating with an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University. Now with almost seven years of experience working with GamesRadar+ on the features team, Heather helps to develop, maintain, and expand the evergreen features that exist on the site for games, as well as spearhead the Indie Spotlight series. You'll also see her contribute op-eds, interview-led features, and more. In her spare time, you'll likely find Heather tucking into RPGs and indie games, reading romance novels, and drinking lots of tea.