Is it true that Arkane Studios is helping Bethesda with Skyrim? I came across http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkane_Studios and it says they are, but there is no source so it obviously could be made up. If they are helping what exactly are they working on?

Pete confirmed that they haven't had any input at all and are busy full time on their own project.

No, they're different studios working on different games...

Same way people from ID don't work on Skyrim either, they work on Rage.

'In August of 2010, the company was acquired by ZeniMax. It's rumored they're assisting Bethesda Game Studios with development on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim'

Very doubtful as I'm pretty sure Todd said in a interview somewhere that everything is done in house. Also the whole 'it's rumored' thing. Rumors are hardly ever true.

Of course I might be wrong about this.

This.

I have a hunch they might be working on a spin off, for when Bethesda does Fallout 4, to avoid another 5 year gap between Skyrim and the next game.

They hired a bunch of new people for Skyrim. I'm not certain but I think a few of them may have come from Arkane. At any rate the main combat animator for Skyrim is brand spanking new, which is good, as I'm sure his qualifications exceed "I totally knew Todd in college."

They are working with Bethesda but its not announced for what title their helping with.. They are known for making good combat in games and interviewers state that Skyrim has a combat overhaul..

Their working with Bethesda as in Bethesda Softworks, the publisher. They aren't helping anything, they are making their own game under Bethesda Softworks
Bethesda Game Studios=/=Bethesda Softworks

They may have transferred a few employees of Arkane to BGS but I doubt they are directly involved in development.