Former Arkane Austin figures Harvey Smith, Ben Horne and Ricardo Bare have launched a new studio, Black Pony Immersive, dedicated to making "imaginative first-person action RPGs" in the immersive sim tradition that made Dishonored and Prey acclaimed. The announcement comes just days after Deus Ex director Warren Spector said he was leaving the games industry, and amid continued upheaval at Arkane, whose Austin studio was shut by Microsoft and whose Lyon studio is currently in talks over a possible sale, closure or buyout by Xbox, making the launch a notably hopeful counterpoint for the genre's future.

Black Pony Immersive is centralised in Austin, Texas, but draws staff from across the United States, including veterans of Insomniac Games, Epic Games, Avalanche Studios and Volition. Smith, who was creative director on Dishonored 2, described the venture as building "exactly the kind of single-player games we're most passionate about," while Horne said the team has worked together for years, in some cases decades, and is "purpose-built" to make ambitious immersive sims. No game has been revealed yet, with the studio promising further details "soon".