Deus Ex and Dishonored designer Harvey Smith has a new studio making immersive sims

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.

The new studio announcement comes at an opportune time. It's a tumultuous summer for the video game industry, led by a devastating round of layoffs and studio shakeups at Xbox in July. As part of the purge, Xbox is considering shutting down Arkane Studios and canceling the Blade game it was working on, though for now, that team's fate remains in the hands of French authorities.

Arkane Studios contains the remnants of Smith and Horne's former crew. Smith was the leader of Arkane Austin until Xbox shut it down in 2024, just three years after purchasing it. Smith also worked with the godfather of immersive sims, Warren Spector, on Deus Ex — and Spector announced his retirement from making video games this week. It really does seem like there's a Black Pony Immersive-sized hole in the industry right now.

While there's no word on what exactly Black Pony is working on, the team's focus is clear: immersive sims, rich original worlds, emergent gameplay. Not only is "immersive" in the studio's title, but its website closes out with the line, "Through the looking glass, we're chasing a dream of mystery, meaning, and creative play." This is a not-so-subtle reference to Looking Glass Studios, a team that defined first-person action RPGs in the 1990s with the System Shock, Thief and Ultima Underworld franchises.

Smith had the following to say in a press release announcing Black Pony Immersive: 

"During a time of industry volatility, I'm proud to announce the next step in my video game journey with the reveal of our new studio. This effort reflects everything we've learned, and all we hold dear. My favorite gaming memories come from seeing players approach challenges with creativity, deep-diving into our world building. We try to reward players for their curiosity and exploration. At our new studio, we're building exactly the kind of single-player games we're most passionate about."