Blade Game Concept Art Revealed

The freshly announced Marvel’s Blade game from Bethesda’s Arkane Studios has released a set of intriguing concept art images. One of the biggest announcements to come out of the 2023 Game Awards, the stylish one-minute trailer for Marvel’s Blade made a huge splash at the show, as the popular vampire hunter will mark Bethesda’s first ever Marvel project.

Upon its announcement, many fans expressed worry about Arkane being the studio behind Marvel’s Blade after the disappointing launch of Redfall earlier this year. However, It’s been confirmed that Marvel’s Blade is being developed by Arkane Lyon, the team responsible for the critically-acclaimed first-person action stealth game Deathloop. It’s also been confirmed that Marvel’s Blade has already been in development for almost two years following the initial launch of Deathloop on PlayStation 5 in late 2021, and that it’ll also be a third-person action game, a first for Arkane. It seems the development of Marvel’s Blade is a bit further along than its one-minute cinematic teaser would suggest.

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On Twitter, one of the creative directors of Marvel’s Blade at Arkane Lyon, Sebastien Mitton, has posted a series of three concept art images presumably from earlier in the game’s development. The art, which exudes Arkane’s signature style, focuses on the game’s setting of Paris, with the first image showing Blade standing atop a building looking down on the pandemonium of the city streets. The second image shows Blade lurking in the shadows at street level, peeking around an alley corner at the front of a neon-lit nightclub. Finally, the third piece frames Blade through the window of a subway car as he raises his sword while swarmed by bats.

It seems the Paris setting of Marvel’s Blade will be a somewhat futuristic one, as the first image depicts several large airships hovering above the city’s rooftops. The scene should be a familiar one for fans of Arkane’s Dishonored titles, which also feature European-style rooftops with imposing mechanical threats looming like the Tallboys or Clockwork Soldiers. These concept art images, with one of them taking place on a rooftop and another on street level, seem to suggest that players will be able to vertically traverse Paris smoothly, as was a staple of Dishonored and Deathloop‘s gameplay.

What Platforms Will Marvel’s Blade Be Available On?

As of now, neither Bethesda nor Arkane have yet to confirm the platforms of which Marvel’s Blade will become available for. Though, considering that Arkane is now an Xbox-owned studio, it would be wise to expect Marvel’s Blade to be exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem. As for when fans can expect Marvel’s Blade to release, knowing the game’s already been in development for two years, it wouldn’t be too surprising to learn more next year or in 2025.

Marvel’s Blade

Marvel’s Blade is in development at Arkane Lyon, which developed Deathloop and Dishonored. It is a mature single-player third-person adventure game set in Paris, where players take on the role of the titular and beloved comic book hero.

Publisher(s)

Bethesda Softworks