'Dishonored' Veteran Harvey Smith Announces New Studio

Harvey Smith, a veteran game developer, is starting a new studio called Black Pony Immersive. Smith has over three decades of experience in the gaming industry, having worked on influential games such as Deus Ex, Dishonored, and Prey. He was the lead designer on the original Deus Ex and co-directed Dishonored at Arkane Studios, where he later served as creative director on Dishonored 2.

Smith's new studio, according to Rock Paper Shotgun, will focus on creating imaginative first-person action RPGs with expressive, emergent game systems. The studio's mission is described as chasing a dream of mystery, meaning, and creative play.

Smith most recently worked at Arkane Austin, which was shut down by Microsoft in 2024. His departure from the industry had been preceded by that of fellow former Ion Storm developer Warren Spector, who announced his retirement.

Brief written by urgent.news from Polygon, Rock Paper Shotgun — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.