Former Dishonored 2 Creative Director Founds Black Pony Immersive Studio, Specializing in Immersive Sims

For now, Harvey Smith only has optimism instead of a game.

Former Dishonored 2 creative director Harvey Smith announced the creation of a new game studio, Black Pony Immersive, which will focus on developing single-player first-person action RPGs with elaborate worlds and systems that allow players to create memorable situations themselves.

The studio's headquarters are in Austin, Texas, with Black Pony Immersive employees working in various cities across the USA. Along with Smith, other former Arkane developers Ben Horne and Ricardo Bare are working on the project. The team also includes specialists who previously worked at Insomniac Games, Epic Games, Avalanche Studios, and Volition.

Smith noted that the new team wants to create the single-player games that interest them most. According to him, the developers aim to reward players for curiosity and world exploration, as well as provide freedom in solving various tasks.

Ben Horne, in turn, directly named the studio's direction – immersive sims. He emphasized that many team members have worked together for several years, and in some cases, decades, and now the team is specifically assembled to create large-scale games of this genre.