
Harvey Smith and Arkane Austin Veterans Launch Black Pony Immersive Studio
Harvey Smith, the veteran designer best known as co-creator of the Dishonored series and a key figure on the original Deus Ex, has announced the formation of Black Pony Immersive, a new independent studio dedicated to first-person action RPGs and immersive sims. Smith is joined by fellow alumni of Arkane Austin, the studio Microsoft shut down in May 2024, leaving 96 developers out of work. The new venture arrives just days after Deus Ex director Warren Spector announced he was stepping away from the industry entirely, making Black Pony Immersive a rare note of optimism for a genre whose fan base has been starved for new entries.

