The sale of Arkane Studios is shaping into a genuine contest. Ubisoft has submitted one of at least three bids for the Dishonored developer, according to new reporting, as Microsoft looks to offload the studio in the coming weeks.

The most intriguing wrinkle: Arkane's own management may be among the parties in the running, raising the possibility of a management-led buyout that would return the studio to independence rather than hand it to another publisher.

How fans feel about the outcome likely depends on who wins. Ubisoft ownership would put the immersive-sim house under one of the industry's biggest publishers — a company with its own well-documented turbulence — while an independent Arkane would be free to chart its own course, with all the financial risk that entails.

Microsoft's willingness to sell marks another step in its restructuring of the Xbox studio portfolio. For Arkane, which has spent recent years under a cloud of uncertainty, a competitive bidding process at least suggests the studio's pedigree still commands real value. A resolution is expected in the coming weeks.