Half-Life 2 architect working on new Bethesda IP

Viktor Antonov, the widely-acclaimed art director whose signature style was central to Half-Life 2, is working with Bethesda on a brand new IP.

The new game, called Dishonored, is in development at the France-based outfit Arkane Studios.

And Bethesda is said to be giving Lyon studio “all the time, money, and development help” in building the new title.

The next issue of GameInformer magazine will detail the development of the new triple-A IP; itself a rarity in the modern age of sequels and franchise spin-offs.

Bethesda parent company Zenimax purchased Arkane last year for an undisclosed fee.

The Lyon studio’s new game is said to be a first-person stealth/action adventure, and could possibly be utilising id Software’s proprietary game engine, id Tech.

id Software, also owned by Zenimax, last year said it would only be sharing its tech to sister studios.

Whether or not id Tech is central to the new game, Bethesda has hired Antonov to help build Dishonored’s game world.

Antonov, currently living in Paris, crafted numerous City 17 concepts for Half-Life 2.

Bethesda has also hired the services of Harvey Smith, a developer central to the first two Deus Ex games, as co-creative director along with Colantonio.