Arkane Studios establishes US office

Lyon-based software developer Arkane Studios has announced the establishment of a new co-development studio located in Austin, Texas, hinting at plans to move into next-gen online gaming.

Raphael Colantonio, Arkane's CEO, commented: "We're very excited to open an office in North America. We believe that collaboration between Europe and America is a necessary step for Arkane Studios as part of our strategy to always make better games."

Best known for its creation of Arx Fatalis, an action RPG for PC and Xbox, the company is currently completing work on Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, which utilises Valve's Source Engine and is scheduled for release later this year through Ubisoft.

It appears that online gaming will be a keen focus for Arkane moving forward, although the Colantonio is remaining tight-lipped on any specifics relating to company's future plans at this point in time.

Speaking to Gamespot.com, Arkane's CEO stated: "We're interested in the online market, and we believe that the online component will be in many next-gen games. There are other forms of online gaming we want to explore that haven't been done yet."