“Through the looking glass”: as Arkane fight for their future, Dishonored veteran Harvey Smith reveals new studio dedicated to immersive sims
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".
- Harvey Smith launches Black Pony Immersive, a new immersive sim studio
- Comes amid Arkane Lyon's uncertain future under Microsoft/Xbox
- Studio staffed by veterans of Arkane, Insomniac, Epic and others
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Immersive sims are a style of first-person game built around giving players several ways to tackle problems, such as sneaking, fighting or using the environment. Dishonored and Prey are well-known examples, and Harvey Smith helped lead the team behind Dishonored 2.
Arkane is the games studio behind those titles. Its Austin branch was shut by Microsoft, while its Lyon branch faces an uncertain future. The new Black Pony Immersive brings together former Arkane figures Smith, Ben Horne and Ricardo Bare with developers from other studios, and is focused on single-player action role-playing games in the same broad tradition.
The studio has not yet announced a game. Its launch comes as another prominent immersive sim director, Warren Spector, has said he is leaving the games industry, raising questions about who will continue making games in the genre.