In a decision made out of desperation and geek enthusiasm, developer Arkane Studios (Dishonored) abandoned its groundbreakingThe Crossingto work on filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s EA gameLMNO,in late 2008.
In a recent interview with Polygon, Arkane founder Raphael Colantonio said the studio decided to stop development onThe Crossingin order to work with Colantonio’s heroes (Spielberg, Doug Church, Randy Smith) and pull in some money for his financially troubled studio.
“It was a way more secure deal than the other one,” Colantonio said. “The other deal was setting us up for failure withThe Crossing, with a lot of suffering. But doing … this other game … was actually pretty f***ing cool, too.”
In a cruel twist of fate, EA would cancelLMNOin 2010, leaving Arkane in the same place they started. It was around this time the studio did level design forBioShock 2andCall of Duty: World at War, leading up to development onDishonored.
The Crossinggained some media attraction in 2007 for its proposed blending of single-player and multiplayer within a narrative. It seemed awfully ambitious for a Source Engine game in 2007 or even now! However, Arkane wanted $15 million and a publisher’s trust. Neither of which they would find in this sequel-driven industry. They did, however, find Bethesda who helped them fundDishonored, whichrepurposed some of the research and development that went intoThe Crossing.
To be fair,The Crossingwas going to be inevitably put on indefinite hold sooner or later. Still, one has to wonder what could have become of Arkane andThe Crossingif they had passed on EA’s offer. Maybe they could have helped finishStarCraft: GhostorCommand & Conquer: Renegade 2!
In the Polygon interview, Colantonio also said Arkane has a fully playable build ofThe Crossingthat they play together as a company whenever a new member joins staff, so maybe we’ll see some of its ambitious “crossplay” ideas come to retail in the future. I just hope they don’t continue to use the term “crossplay.” Because, Google image search.
