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recognizing that Paris itself is a "city of contrasts". As a backstory, they envisioned a world where scientists had developed time travel through various portals, and used it to change the past and create alternate dimensions in the present, then taking the best of technology advancements from that to improve the original reality.
319:. They spent about six months negotiating with this publisher, but Colantonio said as time progressed, the negotiations worsened, with a smaller proposed budget and requiring them to do a PlayStation 3 version. Colantonio decided after six months that they were not going to be able to achieve the vision they wanted with
272:
for some time in their lives, they came upon the idea of a "dystopia-utopia" setting in Paris, where part of the city was a "royal utopia" while the other half had fallen into squalor; this reflected on the different experiences that
Colantonio and Antonov had from how they came to live in Paris, and
250:
into or near the upcoming choke point, so that these players would always feel close to the core action of the game. According to
Colantonio, this approach required them to rethink how they designed levels; they recognized that they needed to continue to drive the single player forward through the
217:
game, with teams assigned to either protect or assassinate the character controlled by the single player. The game also was to include a team-based multiplayer mode called skirmish, which is also incorporated into the single-player campaign, where the main player might try to avoid the skirmish.
212:
which supported a narrative-driven single-player game, but with the player's opponents replaced by human-controlled agents via a multi-player system, an approach called "crossplayer" by Arkane. In this single-player mode, the single player would work through a game level amid the conflict of a
292:
such as using the narrative in another gameplay setting, or having only focus on the single-player. Colantonio stated that these publishers were also concerned about Arkane seeking to focus on the personal computer release over consoles, and the lack of plans for a
194:
230:
was to try to find a way to fuse a narrative-driven single player game with multiplayer elements, with human-controlled players to take the place of some of the enemies in the single-player campaign. This amalgamation was dubbed "crossplayer" by Arkane.
288:, generating interest in the title, but had not yet secured a publisher. Colantonio pitched the idea to the core 20 publishers at that time, but none of them expressed interest in the idea as a whole, instead talking about focusing only on parts of
344:
never came to fruition, Colantonio said that it was an important foundation of Arkane Studio as it helped with team-building, establishing a vision for their own IP, and the processes needed to carry that out, which they used in building the
297:
port, at the time, a limitation of the Source engine having yet to be ported to that console. The publishers also expressed concern about the matchmaking capabilities of the game; Arkane brought in Max
Hoberman, who developed the
277:
would have started when an incident involving misuse of the time travel portal in the center of Paris would have created a cacophony of different versions of Paris. The player discovers that
239:
at the time, said that as a studio they wanted to try a multiplayer game, but felt the standard multiplayer approach in most games was "pointless" and wanted to explore a different formula.
143:
The game was first announced on 9 January 2007, but put "on hold" on 15 May 2009 after the company ran into "an unexpected financial challenge" and decided to focus on smaller projects.
304:
matchmaking system, to try to alleviate publisher fears. A further challenge from publishers according to
Colantonio was the high development costs they wanted, looking for between
1789:
763:
704:
246:
where they would encounter the team-based multiplayer battles. During the player traversing linear sections, the game would have brought the multiplayer teams to
251:
level, unable to have them stop to solve puzzles or analyze enemy movements, while also making some of the choke point areas interesting for the other players.
323:, and ceased negotiations with the publisher, effectively shelving the game. Arkane switched over to continue contract work with Valve, and started work with
359:
as to provide seamless multiplayer functionality alongside single-player content. Arkane would later implement this functionality with their 2021 game
1804:
803:
355:, Arkane's lead designer Ricardo Bare stated that their future projects were looking at multiplayer functionality that they had been envisioning in
614:
581:
515:
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284:
With some of the gameplay and the narrative down, Arkane began talking about the game with the gaming press, including a cover story on
242:
This approach necessitated level designs that had the single player navigating through linear sections of levels until they reached a
1809:
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312:, which was an expensive budget for a game at that time particularly from a studio that had yet to establish its own identity.
264:
1254:
421:
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728:"Dishonored is "resting for now" and future Arkane games could incorporate seamless multiplayer and different perspectives"
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following the collapse of government. In the other, the timeline diverged in 1307; where instead of being disbanded, the
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with high-tech weapons have invaded Paris, and would be forced to find the portal to try to set things right.
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258:(IP) for them to build on. Colantonio brought in Viktor Antonov, an artist that had been working for
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177:. In one universe, which shares many aesthetic similarities to our own, Paris has descended into
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Eventually, Arkane found one unnamed publisher that was interested in the entire concept of
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seize control of the French crown. The story takes the player across both universes.
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and had helped Arkane with the Source engine during their development of
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by threading its single-player campaign through live multiplayer games.
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For the game's story and setting, Arkane wanted to create a new
149:
1016:
785:
756:"Deathloop's Invasion PvP Mode Can Be Played Like a Co-Op Game"
147:
was later officially cancelled for Arkane
Studios to work on
1012:
637:"Production suspended for ambitious FPS The Crossing"
268:(2006). As both Colantonio and Antonov had lived in
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695:"The story of The Crossing, Arkane's lost game"
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8:
572:"Arkane and Valve's 'The Crossing' on Hold"
506:"Arkane's The Crossing crosses to Xbox 360"
197:Two campaign players bear down on a weaker
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1790:Multiplayer and single-player video games
337:, itself which was ultimately cancelled.
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518:from the original on 23 September 2024
424:from the original on 23 September 2024
445:"The Crossing images reveal gameplay"
7:
707:from the original on 30 January 2018
504:Bishop, Stuart (21 February 2007).
471:GamesRadar_ US (15 February 2007).
443:Richardson, Ben (31 January 2007).
410:Richardson, Ben (17 January 2007).
617:from the original on 30 April 2019
382:Richardson, Ben (9 January 2007).
169:The game incorporated the idea of
14:
853:Dishonored: Death of the Outsider
693:Hester, Blake (30 January 2018).
1748:
1747:
998:
997:
766:from the original on 27 May 2024
726:McKeand, Kirk (14 August 2018).
1805:Video games developed in France
878:Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
584:from the original on 9 May 2013
570:O'Connor, Alice (15 May 2009).
537:GamesRadar_ US (7 March 2007).
265:Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
1:
754:Purslow, Matt (19 May 2021).
603:Pitts, Russ (27 July 2012).
161:, which was also cancelled.
1826:
1795:Source (game engine) games
605:"The mirror men of Arkane"
132:, which attempted to fuse
1742:
994:
412:"Uncovering The Crossing"
31:
1810:Video games set in Paris
1785:Cancelled Xbox 360 games
351:series. During the 2018
1800:Valve Corporation games
1780:Cancelled Windows games
906:Wolfenstein: Youngblood
899:Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot
384:"What is The Crossing?"
237:chief executive officer
1541:World Opponent Network
202:
1289:Team Fortress Classic
256:intellectual property
196:
1775:Arkane Studios games
210:first-person shooter
123:first-person shooter
95:First-person shooter
16:Cancelled video game
1724:Steam Trading Cards
945:Return to Ravenholm
985:Raphaƫl Colantonio
551:on 19 October 2016
485:on 19 October 2016
233:Raphaƫl Colantonio
203:
171:parallel universes
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1189:Aperture Desk Job
1182:Aperture Hand Lab
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473:"Hot crossed fun"
286:Games for Windows
114:
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71:Microsoft Windows
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1751:
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1734:The Steam Awards
1699:Yanis Varoufakis
1558:
1536:Valve Anti-Cheat
1521:Source Filmmaker
1460:Steam Controller
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1269:Counter-Strike 2
1262:Global Offensive
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547:. Archived from
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481:. Archived from
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1664:Mike Harrington
1617:
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1370:Dota Underlords
1339:
1310:
1296:Team Fortress 2
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1194:
1144:
1139:Half-Life: Alyx
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325:Electronic Arts
309:
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279:Knights Templar
224:
199:team deathmatch
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183:Knights Templar
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155:Electronic Arts
121:is a cancelled
22:
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11:
5:
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1411:The Orange Box
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1255:Condition Zero
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1211:Counter-Strike
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1201:Counter-Strike
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1079:Opposing Force
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813:Arkane Studios
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539:"The Crossing"
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331:-backed game,
310:US$ 20 million
306:US$ 15 million
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130:Arkane Studios
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1388:Day of Defeat
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1280:Team Fortress
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645:. 18 May 2009
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244:choke point
235:, Arkane's
222:Development
213:team-based
138:multiplayer
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1769:Categories
1689:Chris Remo
1470:Steam Link
1465:Steam Deck
1446:Technology
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1072:Half-Life
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362:Deathloop
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1561:Current
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327:on a
270:Paris
260:Valve
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175:Paris
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153:with
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