Arkane was ‘devastated’ by its cancelled Half-Life 2 Ravenholm game, but the masterclass it got from late visionary artist Viktor Antonov ‘was pivotal to what would become Arkane later’

One of the most unfortunate missed shots in gaming is that of Arkane’s cancelled Ravenholm game—in case you’re unfamiliar, circa 2007-2008, Arkane was working on a standalone spin-off that would see players returning to Half-Life 2’s zombie-infested Ravenholm.

The project got shuttered because Arkane wasn’t able to deliver on time—though not for lack of trying. This was back when Valve was still attempting (and stumbling on) its episodic vision of Half-Life, and seemingly couldn’t figure it out, either.