Marvel’s Blade: Everything We Know

Bethesda Softworks, Arkane Studios Lyon, and Marvel Games have come together to announce Marvel’s Blade, “a mature, single-player, third-person” game that’ll be based around the comic book series. According to the three teams, the upcoming game will feature an original story, and will “push Arkane’s art style into an even more modern and bold territory.”

“In honor of Blade‘s 50th anniversary, we have found the perfect match for the Daywalker in Arkane Lyon, a studio of uncompromising artists who continually push the boundaries of game design and innovation,” said Marvel Games vice president and creative director Bill Rosemann in a press release. “In addition to their award-winning talent, it’s their personal passion and bold vision for our half-human, half-vampire iconoclast that makes this collaboration a perfect fit.” And what a fit it is.

As Marvel Games have only just begun developing their newest IP, we can’t really comment on a great deal of the game’s features. For what it’s worth, though, here’s everything we can currently tell you based on the information provided by the devs to date.

What Is Marvel’s Blade? 

Let’s go ahead and get straight to the point. What is Marvel’s Blade, and what’s the current situation with its ongoing development? Well, to put it simply, it’s a “mature” third-person action-adventure game by Arkane Studios Lyon and Bethesda Softworks. As for how far along the project is, however, is still anybody’s guess.

“As a kid of mixed origins, I felt a special connection to  Blade—a hero with a dual heritage himself,” Arkane Studios Lyon game director Dinga Bakaba wrote in a press release. “The opportunity to put our spin on this character is a dream of mine and a challenge that our team embraces with a passion. We  couldn’t  be happier to put players in Blade’s boots, as he becomes the champion of my hometown of Paris, one stake at a time.”

Story

From what we’ve gathered so far, Marvel’s Blade will take place in Paris—the famed “City of Lights” in which vampires cloak the streets through dusk, and the Parisians are forced to barricade themselves behind the veils of their own homes. Set in a quarantined portion of the city, the game will have players fill the boots of the acclaimed vampire hunter—a sword-wielding, sunglasses-sporting slayer who must take back the city that, during the twilight hours, operates under the thumb of the unholy.

“From his trench coat to his iconic sunglasses, Blade  is a slick, stylish, and driven character,” said Arkane Studios Lyon co-creative and art director Sebastien Mitton. “This project is the perfect opportunity to push Arkane’s art style into an even more modern and bold territory. The essence of our work lives at the junction of impactful ideas and innovative know-how.”

Gameplay

At the time of writing, Marvel’s Blade hasn’t released any gameplay footage. That said, as we know for a fact that it’s being built by the likes of Arkane Studios—a firm best known for Dishonored and Deathloop—we can say that it’ll feature a whole lot of melee-based combat. And while we can’t really comment on specific aspects, such as the traversable environment, weapon loadout, or skill tree, we can pin our hopes on seeing such elements come to light over the coming months.

Right now, we can’t say for certain whether or not there’ll be an open world to explore, or a semi-open world, similar to those featured in Dishonored and Deathloop. It could very well be that, if the teams are pushing the boat out, then it could dabble more along the same lines as Redfall. Again, it’s far too early to know for sure, so we’ll just have to continue twiddling our thumbs and speculating on the matter — at least until the devs shed light on it.

Development

Marvel’s Blade was initially teased during The Game Awards 2023, at which point the teams announced their collaborative efforts to port the comic book hero over to the gaming world. And while the trailer (we’ll get to that in a moment) didn’t go on to highlight the platforms that it’ll launch on, it was naturally assumed that it would be an Xbox Series X|S exclusive, what with Bethesda Softworks recently pledging their allegiance to Xbox in light of the acquisition.

Marvel’s Blade isn’t likely to arrive on its chosen platforms for a while yet; Marvel Games did state that development on the game had only just begun. With any luck, we’ll be seeing the trench coat-donning hero at some point in 2025, if not a little earlier. Fingers crossed, either way.

Trailer

Realistically speaking, we’re still a fair ways off from seeing any gameplay footage of Marvel’s Blade, what with it still being in its early development phase. Don’t fret, though, as the devs have gone as far as to post a sneak preview of their upcoming game on a slew of streaming channels. Need we say more? You can catch a short glimpse of the newest Marvel IP in the trailer embedded above.

Release Date, Platforms & Editions

Marvel’s Blade has yet to receive a concrete release date, or even any platforms, as it turns out. Having said that, we can no doubt expect to see it arrive on Xbox Series X|S and PC. If we had to take a shot in the dark and guess the release date, then we’d favor a 2025 launch, what with it still being in early development.

Interested in staying up to date with Marvel’s Blade? If so, then be sure to check in with Marvel Games’ official social handle here. Alternatively, you can follow Arkane Studios Lyon and Bethesda Softworks for additional updates here. If anything does change ahead of its launch, then we’ll be sure to fill you in on all the key details right here on gaming.net.

So, what’s your take? Will you be getting your hands on a copy of Marvel’s Blade when it arrives on consoles and PC? Let us know your thoughts over on our socials here.