Deus Ex And Dishonored Designer Harvey Smith Has A New Studio Making Immersive Sims
Former Arkane Austin leaders Harvey Smith and Ben Horne have launched a new studio called Black Pony Immersive. The studio aims to develop narrative-rich immersive sims, drawing on talent from various major gaming companies.
Why it matters
This represents a significant shift in the gaming industry landscape following recent layoffs and studio closures at major publishers like Xbox.
Black Pony Immersive has veterans from Arkane, Insomniac and Epic.
Black Pony Immersive Hell yeah. At a time when the video game industry could use some good news, former Arkane Austin head Harvey Smith and longtime collaborator Ben Horne have formed Black Pony Immersive, a studio focused on building narrative-rich first-person action RPGs. In other words: immersive sims. This is the genre Smith is known for, as the designer of the original Deus Ex and co-head of the Dishonored series.
Horne has worked with Smith for eight years, recently as production director of Redfall at Arkane Austin. Additionally, Redfall, Prey and Dishonored creative director Ricardo Bare is on board as design director of Black Pony Immersive. The new studio is staffed with veterans from Insomniac, Epic, Avalanche and Volition studios, and it's based in Austin, Texas, with remote workers tagging in from across the United States.
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