Importantly, Arx Fatalis’ high quality opened a door for the then-independent Arkane to collaborate with Valve. We praised its atmosphere and spellcasting, awarding it 8/10.

It did not sell many copies, but it was well received by critics, including IGN. Adapt and SurviveĪrkane released Arx Fatalis in 2002. These elements will likely be familiar to any player of Arkane’s library of work, but if you’ve never visited Dunwall or walked aboard Talos I, all you need to know is these core mechanics would become cornerstones of Arkane’s future portfolio, remoulded for each new project to fit unique, original worlds. Clever use of its toolkit - consisting of medieval fantasy weapons and an elaborate rune-based magic system - could help create fun and unusual solutions to problems. Like its inspiration, Arx Fatalis’ labyrinthine level design encouraged non-linear exploration, with opportunities to fight or adopt a stealthy approach. 'A first person dungeon crawler / fantasy RPG combining a real adventure, puzzle solving, lots of object and NPC interactions, immersive fights and magic.” In short, Arx Fatalis was essentially an Ultima Underworld sequel in all but name. “I would say Arx is the game that we've always wanted to play here at Arkane Studios,' said Colantonio in an interview with IGN in 2000. So Colantonio and the small team at Arkane pivoted, breaking away from any agreement with EA and instead made Arx Fatalis. However, he was unable to secure the rights from EA without agreeing to terms that compromised his vision. His original ambition for the studio was to create a new sequel to 1992’s Ultima Underworld, a fantasy RPG notable for the non-linear, freeform exploration it offered players at the time. So, with some financial help from his uncle, Colantonio set up Arkane Studios. All they liked were sports games and that's the new thing for EA - consoles, sports. 'This machine called PS1 came out and that was the beginning of a big, big shift,' said Colantonio in an interview with Polygon. But soon, EA began to shift its focus away from the games he enjoyed. He’d previously worked at EA’s French quality assurance office, tracking bugs in Origin Systems games like System Shock.

The studio was born from Colantonio’s disinterest in the games his former employer, EA, had begun to focus on. Arkane Studios was founded in 1999 in France - the city of Lyon, to be specific - by Raphaël Colantonio.

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