Sony has officially opened a new studio known as Dark Outlaw Games, led by former Treyarch co-head and Call of Duty: Zombies director, Jason Blundell. Notably, this is the second studio formed by Blundell under Sony, following the launch of Deviation Games and its subsequent demise.
While this studio was announced to much excitement in 2021, with the team working on a mystery project likely tied to Sony’s live service ambitions, it was forced to shut down prior to releasing this game. Notably, Blundell wound up departing in 2022, and the further troubles were revealed when layoffs took place in 2023.
Now, it seems Blundell and other former members of Deviation have banded back together to form a new studio under Sony, with greater hope for the future.
“I’ve had the amazing opportunity to create a new studio within PlayStation Studios for Sony,” Blundell recently revealed to reporter Jeff Gerstmann on his podcast (via Eurogamer). “The studio is called Dark Outlaw … been working away in the shadows for a while, and when we’ve got something to talk about, we’ll step out into the light.”
Read: Deviation Games shut down before releasing its debut PlayStation game
Per Blundell, there’s plenty of excitement for the Dark Outlaw Games’ first project, although the team is remaining cautious about officially announcing anything just yet, as they’re still gathering staff. As he made clear to Gerstmann, they’re not ready to comment on what exactly they’re doing, but the team is currently “getting the ideas clicking right” and testing assumptions.
Based on what Blundell revealed, the studio has formed around the idea for a particular game, with the support of Sony – although it remains in the very early stages of development. In this case, given precedent, it’s probably best to keep expectations in check, with some hope for the future.
Over the last few years, new studios cropping up at Sony haven’t exactly had the best luck. Beyond recent layoffs, the company has also recently cancelled games and closed newer studios, to contend with economic difficulties, and other challenges.
At the very least, it’s nice to see the company investing in a new studio, hopefully with a more robust supporting network, and a better understanding of the challenges currently facing the games industry. It may not be any time soon, but we do look forward to hearing more from Dark Outlaw Games.
