Decorated veteran game developer Harvey Smith (Dishonored series, original Deus Ex series), most recently of Arkane Austin – which Xbox shut down in 2024 following the failure of Redfall – has opened a new game development studio. Dubbed Black Pony Immersive, it will indeed focus on the “immersive sim” genre that Smith helped pioneer evolve through his work as co-creative director on Dishonored, creative director on Dishonored 2, and lead game designer on the original Deus Ex (which, not for nothing, this particular writer ranks as a top-10 game of all-time).
“My favorite gaming memories come from seeing players approach challenges with creativity, deep-diving into our world building,” Smith said. “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.”
Smith is a disciple of immersive-sim legend Warren Spector, who just announced his retirement. “I worked closely with Warren for nine years, learning a lot,” Smith told IGN. “We still go to lunch now and then. Recently, he gave me one of his guitars after we ate a bunch of Mexican food. My feelings for Warren are deep and complicated, but mostly I feel admiration and gratitude. For Richard Garriott too. So much good came of Origin. Places like Austin or Boston, or cities in Europe, experience flourishes now and then, as creative leaders get something going. A scene. The entire industry is deeply hurting right now, Austin included. I am just thrilled to be announcing Black Pony Immersive. Making another run at trying to create magic for players. Having the team we have, including Ricardo and people we worked with on Deus Ex, Dishonored, and Prey just feels like a dream. We are on fire for single-player, narrative-driven, first-person (highly hyphenated) immersive sims.”
I asked about lessons learned from Arkane to hopefully help lead Black Pony to a better fate, and Smith said, “In my mind, that’s a tricky, emotional question. I loved my time there with Raf, Ricardo, Ben, and everyone else. I worked at Arkane for 16 years. Part of the company is still around, in Lyon, where it started. During my years there, we went back and forth between Texas and France. The company released Dishonored, Prey, Dishonored 2, some great Dishonored DLC, Death of the Outsider, Mooncrash, and Deathloop. We worked on a few other projects too, including Redfall at the end. You say, ‘a better fate.’ But honestly imagine if, like Arkane, our new studio lasted 27+ years, and released at least 4-5 absolute bangers, on top of being a super fun, interesting place to work, a place that experienced what I can only describe as electric fan support. If that happens again, I will absolutely count myself as blessed. I would feel lucky in the extreme to experience that again. And I don’t know of many places that get to that much joy and creative success. It’s just so rare. Very hard to pull off.”
I concluded by asking Smith if he felt a sense of responsibility to carry the torch for the immersive sim genre. “Always. Until I am dead,” he said. “I’m playing the Killing Stone right now, a super clever deckbuilder on Steam. So I have some range as a player. That said, immersive sims are my favorite. I am hyped for any that come along. High hopes for Judas! Marvel’s Blade! Raf’s new game at Wolf-Eye! Gloomwood 1.0, Secret of Weepstone, Project Shadowglass, Peripeteia, Clockwork Revolution, Distant Shore Bretagne, the one with the giant Eastern European cop, and maybe even a new Bioshock game. More games than I actually have time to play.”
Smith is joined at Black Pony Immersive by longtime Arkane Austin collaborator Ben Horne and Ricardo Bare as they build out their team, whose collective resume includes the likes of the aforementioned Deus Ex and Dishonored games along with Prey and Just Cause. They promise to reveal more about their first project soon.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, and a co-host of Next-Gen Console Watch. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
