Before Arkane Studios made Dishonored, the team worked on a first-person shooter called The Crossing. The game would have merged single- and multiplayer into what it called "cross-play," but it was not meant to be. Arkane put the game on hold in May 2009 due to an "unexpected financial challenge," the studio told Joystiq at the time.

Bethesda parent company ZeniMax purchased Arkane in 2010. Now, it looks like Bethesda may have plans for The Crossing, or at least it wants to keep hold of the name for potential future use.

ZeniMax filed a trademark application with the United States Patent & Trademark Office on October 11, records show. The trademark application covers video games, but the document doesn't contain any details about the status of the game or Bethesda's plans for it.

A Bethesda representative told GameSpot this afternoon, "We don't comment on trademark filings."

The existence of a trademark application doesn't necessarily mean much. There are many examples of trademark applications for things that never happen, like Call of Duty: Future Warfare and Call of Duty: Space Warfare. It might be that Bethesda filed the trademark application to allow it to hold onto the name, should it want to revive development on The Crossing someday.

Arkane CEO Raphael Colantonio said in the past (via Joystiq) that layoffs at Electronic Arts--a partner for Valve, The Crossing's publisher--might have contributed to the need to put the game on hold. Check out the video above to see a teaser for The Crossing.

Arkane's next game is Dishonored 2, which comes out in November. After that, the studio's Austin, Texas branch will ship the new Prey in 2017. Arkane is headquartered in Lyon, France.