Harvey Smith launches Black Pony Immersive after Dishonored saved Arkane

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Harvey Smith announced a new studio, Black Pony Immersive, dedicated to making immersive sims in the tradition of Deus Ex and System Shock. Smith previously led Arkane Austin when the studio ran multiple outside contracts and had roughly four months of funding left before deciding to develop Dishonored. Focusing on their own immersive sim instead of contract work produced Dishonored and reversed Arkane's fortunes. That experience shaped Smith's commitment to building studios that prioritize passion projects over contract work.

• Black Pony Immersive has been launched to make immersive sims, explicitly positioning itself in the tradition of Deus Ex and System Shock.
• Before Dishonored, Arkane was juggling up to nine outside projects at once, including work on Boom Blox for EA, pitches to Ubisoft, a cancelled Half‑Life 2 episode, and a zombie shooter.
• Arkane had about four months of money left when the studio chose to stop taking third‑party contracts and focus on developing Dishonored, which turned the company's fortunes around.
• Smith says the Dishonored turnaround reinforced his belief that studios' best chance of success is making games they are truly passionate about.