Once again, job listings provide us with industry insights. Arkane Studios, best known for the Dishonored franchise and Prey, is hiring a dev tester as revealed by a job listing spotted by a Resetera user named Nirolak. Under job requirements, the Arkane Lyon post stated, “experience in AAA titles, Multiplayer, VR and GAaS is a plus.”
Since dev testers are tasked with play-testing games before their release, there’s a good chance that an upcoming game from Arkane Studios could include these aforementioned features. There’s also the possibility that Arkane Studios is merely experimenting, as play-testing is always related to works in progress. If Arkane is making something multiplayer/VR related, it won’t necessarily see the light of day.
Fan response is mixed, when it comes to the idea of Arkane Studios pivoting away from its usual genre(s). While the prospect of virtual reality compatible games, especially from big studios, is exciting to many, the potential shift in focus from single-player campaigns to multiplayer experiences is off-putting to some.
Moments like this may further perpetuate the imagined “death of single-player.” While it’s an unsubstantiated fear, it’s one that many players have.
Are you excited by the idea of Arkane Studios moving things to the multiplayer and/or VR space? Let us know in the comments below.
[Source: ZeniMax Jobs and ResetEra]
