Former Arkane Austin leaders Harvey Smith, Ben Horne and Ricardo Bare have announced Black Pony Immersive, a new studio formed after the difficult development and reception of Redfall.
The announcement arrives during a turbulent period for Xbox and its wider group of studios, following repeated rounds of layoffs and ongoing restructuring. Compulsion Games and Double Fine now have full control of their back catalogues, while Double Fine is already preparing its next projects. Arkane itself avoided the latest closure round, but has remained under sustained pressure from Microsoft.
In a comprehensive discussion with The Game Business, Smith and Horne said Black Pony Immersive intends to revisit the kind of games that built Arkane’s following, including Deus Ex and Dishonored. They also reflected on Redfall, the project that failed to meet many players’ expectations.
Smith explained that Arkane’s highly specialised approach was placed under pressure as the business expanded and projects were expected to reach broader audiences. The studio was drawn into the industry-wide push towards games as a service, despite having limited experience with that model and assuming its established strengths would carry across.
Why Redfall struggled
An Arkane-developed vampire shooter initially sounded like an intriguing combination, but interest faded as Redfall increasingly appeared to be following live-service trends rather than Arkane’s usual immersive-sim design priorities.
Smith and Horne said parent company ZeniMax directed several projects towards the live-service market. The production was further complicated by the team’s inexperience with that format, staff reductions and the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Microsoft did allow employees who had been dismissed to continue working on a final update, which Smith suggested prevented the situation from becoming even worse. Even so, Redfall launched in very poor condition, and Arkane Austin was shut down completely the following year, in 2024.
The experience has not convinced the studio’s founders that difficult projects should be avoided. Smith described the value of attempting something challenging with a team, even when the desired outcome—the industry’s “golden ring”—does not arrive.
A difficult path to Dishonored
Starting again may appear risky, but hardship is familiar territory for the Arkane veterans. Even Dishonored, widely regarded as the studio’s defining success, faced serious financial uncertainty during development.
Smith said the team had only a few months of cash remaining while making the game, after Arkane had spent years taking contract support work. Those jobs included Boom Blox, which he also regarded as an excellent game. The team was reportedly down to a few months’ worth of cash left in the coffers during Dishonored’s development.
Immersive simulations have always represented a commercial gamble, while the industry’s changing attitude towards live-service games may have altered the usual calculation. For Australian arcade fans tracking the wider games business, the story is a reminder that creative direction, production conditions and publisher strategy can shape a release as much as the core idea itself.
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