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." 

Microsoft announced the $7.5 billion acquisition back in September last year. The ZeniMax deal includes publisher Bethesda Softworks, which owns Bethesda Game Studios, along with Tango Gameworks, Roundhouse, MachineGames, Alpha Dog, ZeniMax Online, and Arkane Studios. 

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.