The Game Awards 2023 celebrated the video game industry with dozens of awards and a myriad of reveals. Bethesda Softworks and Marvel Games joined Geoff Keighley’s award show for a big announcement: Marvel’s Blade is in development at Arkane Lyon.
The team that brought us Deathloop and the celebrated Dishonored series is working on a mature third-person action-adventure game that will let players step into the role of the comic book hero Blade. The game is still in early development, so there is no word on a possible release window yet.
A Teaser Shows off the First Look at Marvel’s Blade at The Game Awards
It wasn’t Dishonored 3, after all. Yesterday’s leak claiming Arkane Studios would announce a sequel in the critically acclaimed series turned out to have been wrong. Instead, viewers got a first announcement teaser for the upcoming Marvel’s Blade, a game based on the half-human/half-vampire anti-hero from the comics.
As Arkane Lyon has only just begun development on the game, the first trailer doesn’t entail a lot of information and mostly just sets the tone and setting for the game. It starts with an announcement, ordering businesses to shut down in time for sunset.
We then see the titular character in a barber shop getting a shave, as a countdown is ticking down to zero next to a video of Paris’ Eiffel Tour, promptly unveiling the game’s location. A close-up of Blade, aka Eric Brooks, briefly reveals his vampire teeth, before we see his iconic silhouette, as he reaches for his blade. The teaser ends with him saying, “The night’s just getting started.”
Marvel’s Blade will be a mature third-person action-adventure game, featuring Arkane’s signature storytelling in an immersive, single-player experience. The game takes place in the heart of Paris, which is “in the middle of a supernatural emergency.” Vampires have taken over and are wreaking havoc at night, forcing humans to go into hiding after the sun has set.
For anyone who is not familiar with the source material, Blade is a “Daywalker” vampire, meaning he can walk in the sunlight without turning into ash, unlike the “Purebloods.” He has made it his mission to fight the vampires, something players can expect to do a lot of in the upcoming game.
It Will Be a “Very Arkane” Game
The game is “now in development” at Arkane Lyon, the creatives behind the critically acclaimed and award-winning Deathloop and Dishonored series. The studio’s Austin-based team, Arkane Austin, last worked on the unpopular vampire game Redfall.
Now, their Lyon-based studio is creating yet another vampire experience – hopefully with more success. It will be the team’s first release after becoming part of the Xbox family.
As stated by Bill Rosemann, VP and creative director of Marvel Games, you will be able to play Blade “your way.” Geoff Keighley interviewed him and Arkane co-creative director Dinga Bakaba on stage at The Game Awards after the big reveal. (You can watch the reveal and interview at 2:20:15 in the live stream).
Stating that the “Arkane touch fit Blade like his trademark trench coat,” Rosemann expressed his trust in the studio, which apparently presented the “wildest take” on the titular superhero. Bakaba went on to add that it would be a “very Arkane” game, assuring fans it will continue the studio’s iconic style, unlike the Redfall mishap.
Bakaba revealed it was “a dream” to be making a Blade game, and one set in his hometown, Paris, to boot. Speaking to the press, he shared:
As a kid of mixed origins, I felt a special connection to Blade — a hero with a dual heritage himself.
Besides him, he said the whole team was “pouring so much love” into the game. Adding to the anticipation, Sebastien Mitton, the studio’s co-creative and art director, said in a statement to the press:
This project is the perfect opportunity to push Arkane’s art style into an even more modern and bold territory. The essence of our work lives at the junction of impactful ideas and innovative know-how.
Marvel’s Blade has only recently entered development and is most likely still a few years away. On stage, Bakaba appealed to the audience, asking them to “sit back and let [them] cook.”
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