Former Arkane Austin devs found Black Pony Immersive to make more immersive sims

The useful part

Former Arkane Austin studio head and a lead creator on the early Deus Ex and Dishonored series, has announced the founding of Black Pony Immersive. The new studio will be based in Austin, Texas, has a core team of fellow ex-Arkane developers and will be working on new games in the immersive sim genre for which they are best known. Smith is joined by Ben Horne and Ricardo Bare, the team is made up for 26 former Arkane Austin staff in total.

How it works

• Smith worked with the Lyon team to continue the Dishonored series, directing Dishonored 2 and Dishonored:
• At our new studio, we're building exactly the kind of single-player games we're most passionate about." Taking the role as COO for the studio, Ben Horne adds, "This group has worked together for years,...
• In the press release, Smith said, "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.
• We share a vision for crafting games that push the limits of player immersion.
• We can't wait to reveal more soon." It's an exciting development, given the legacy that they will look to build on.

What to take from it

He joined Arkane in 2008, as studio founder Raphaël Colantonio brought him on board to be a co-creative director on the massively acclaimed Dishonored. After that point, Arkane saw its two studios – Austin and Lyon – branch off in different directions.

Details worth keeping

This effort reflects everything we've learned, and all we hold dear. We try to reward players for their curiosity and exploration. He then shifted across to Arkane Austin to be co-director on the ill-f...