Jason Blundell, producer of the Call of Duty: Black Ops series, is launching a new studio, Dark Outlaw Games, in partnership with Sony Interactive Entertainment. As Gematsu reports, he revealed this on The Jeff Gerstmann Show podcast.
Blundell noted that the studio has been around for a while, but is currently keeping quiet, hiring staff and exploring possible ideas. He said that an official statement from Dark Outlaw Games will come when the company has something to show.
"[We’re currently] staffing up, keeping it kind of lowkey—been going for a little bit of time now. Not gonna really comment about what we’re doing exactly, but it’s like we talked about—getting the team to gel, getting the ideas clicking right, let’s test those assumptions, you know, ‘is it working? It's very exciting, and I love the fact that at this stage of my career I'm given these opportunities. And it's always the desire to put another disc on the wall, if you will, and whether we can bring something to the audience, captivate them, gain new intellectual property or something exciting or dangerous. It makes me jump out of bed every morning," says Blundell.
Interestingly, Blundell's new studio will be part of PlayStation Studios, which recently cut back on its AAA-supporting Visual Arts studio. Earlier, in October 2024, the company also closed Firewalk Studios, the developers of the failed hero shooter Concord, and Neon Koi, the studio that was working on its first mobile game.
"And it’s such a privilege to be able to do it with with Sony as a new first-party studio. You know, Sony doesn’t set up first-party studios all the time. So to have to have that privilege is humbling—it’s really nice. I’m really excited," said the head of Dark Outlaw Games.