Arkane Studios Acquisition Interview

Gamasutra chatted up Arkane Studios' Raphael Colantonio and Harvey Smith following their ZeniMax Media acquisition, and even managed to pry a small amount of information about their next game during the interview.
This acquisition means you'll never get to work on [outside properties like] Ultima Underworld, or Half-Life, or Deus Ex. Was that a hard decision?

HS: We routinely describe our current game as a combination of Underworld, Half-Life, and Deus Ex. I think it's important to note that as much as Raph and I love Thief, System Shock, Arx Fatalis, Deus Ex and BioShock, that style of game.

Ultima Underworld is perhaps the patient zero, I would say -- it's not the IP specifically, it's the spirit of what the player gets to do in this atmospheric environment where the player can play with systems, and play creatively.
If it's really a mix of Underworld and Deus Ex, then it almost has to be an RPG... and that's great news.