{"rewrite":{"id":"r_e26f5e3d917815ccea86885e","clusterId":"c_7e8ae644216aba3ad99d60c8","slug":"arkane-was-six-months-from-bankruptcy-before-dishonored-harvey-smith-says","model":"deepseek-v4-flash:free","headline":"Arkane Was Six Months From Bankruptcy Before Dishonored, Harvey Smith Says","summary":"Harvey Smith told The Game Business that Arkane Studios was near bankruptcy before Dishonored, with only six months of funding left. The studio had nine projects running at once, including work with Electronic Arts and a pitch to Ubisoft, before deciding to focus on what it loved, which led to Dishonored.","whyItMatters":"The interview reframes Dishonored as a last-ditch bet that saved Arkane, adding context to the studio's later struggles under Microsoft.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eHarvey Smith, co-creative director on the Dishonored series, said in an interview with The Game Business that Arkane Studios was on the verge of bankruptcy before Dishonored shipped in 2012. The studio had about six months of funding left, he said, and was juggling nine projects at once to stay afloat.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThose projects included a collaboration with Electronic Arts on Boom Blox and a pitch to Ubisoft, plus a zombie shooter. Smith said the team eventually realized that approach was wrong. They decided to make what they loved and accept bankruptcy if it failed. That bet became Dishonored, which now holds an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam from over 61,000 reviews.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSmith and colleagues Ricardo Bare and Ben Horne later founded Black Pony Immersive in 2025, a studio focused on immersive simulations.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Arkane's near-bankruptcy before Dishonored came with nine concurrent projects, including work for Electronic Arts and a Ubisoft pitch. The pivot to internal passion is what actually saved the studio.","twitterPost":"Arkane ran nine projects, including EA work and a Ubisoft pitch, before Dishonored. The pivot to passion is what saved it.","threadsPost":"Arkane had six months of runway and nine projects in flight, including work for Electronic Arts and a Ubisoft pitch. Harvey Smith says the decision to drop everything and focus on what the studio loved is what produced Dishonored. That pivot, not the funding, is the real turning point.","newsletterBlurb":"Harvey Smith revealed in an interview that Arkane Studios was six months from bankruptcy before Dishonored. The studio was running nine projects at once, including work with Electronic Arts and a pitch to Ubisoft, before betting on Dishonored. The game shipped in 2012 and became a hit.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Automaton\",\"url\":\"https://automaton-media.com/articles/newsjp/20260820-461307/\",\"title\":\"Arkane Studios, Creator of the Masterpiece 'Dishonored,' Was in a Dire State with 'Only Six Months of Funding.' A Former Studio Executive Discusses the 'Comeback Story Prepared for Bankruptcy'\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4695,"outputTokens":611,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1787205949,"createdAt":"2026-08-20T05:57:58.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-08-20T06:01:44.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-20T05:57:58.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_7e8ae644216aba3ad99d60c8","canonicalTitle":"名作『Dishonored』を生んだArkane Studios、それまでは「資金が半年分もない」極限状態だった。スタジオ元幹部が語る“倒産覚悟の逆転劇”","representativeArticleId":"a_f53720e629a76e2949971187","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"Dishonored\"],\"studios\":[\"Arkane Studios\"],\"people\":[\"Harvey Smith\"],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-08-20T03:46:00.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-08-20T03:46:00.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-20T06:01:45.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Automaton","url":"https://automaton-media.com/articles/newsjp/20260820-461307/","title":"名作『Dishonored』を生んだArkane Studios、それまでは「資金が半年分もない」極限状態だった。スタジオ元幹部が語る“倒産覚悟の逆転劇”"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["Dishonored"],"studios":["Arkane Studios"],"people":["Harvey Smith"],"type":"news","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}