Sony's New AAA First-Party Studio Dark Outlaw Games Ties Ex-CoD Veterans

Jason Blundell, a key figure behind the success of Call of Duty's Zombies mode, has announced the formation of a brand-new game development studio under PlayStation Studios. This new venture, called Dark Outlaw Games, marks Blundell's return to the forefront of game development after he departed from Deviation Games two years ago.

For those who are not familiar with Blundell's history, he was a co-studio head at Treyarch and played a significant role in developing Call of Duty Zombies mode. He spent 13 years at Activision before leaving Treyarch in 2020 and subsequently co-founding Deviation Games in 2021. His stint at Deviation wasn't long, though. He quit the studio shortly after working there for only one year. The studio itself ultimately closed its doors in 2024 without releasing a single game despite an ambitious partnership with Sony.

Now Blundell is back with Dark Outlaw Games, a PlayStation subsidiary that is part of the larger PlayStation Studios family. While the specifics of the first project are not known, the studio could be working on a brand-new IP or possibly an existing Sony property. Blundell announced the news on a guest appearance on Jeff Gesterman's bonus podcast, talking excitedly about this new project.

He goes on to say, "I like how he's acknowledged that they've been working away in the shadows for a while, suggesting, even implying, that they've been cooking away on something for a while since he left Deviation Games. It's funny how he's kind of implied that they've been working away in the background for a while, and when we've got something to show, we'll show it".

It's interesting how he's phrased that. Despite keeping things under wraps for such a long time, Blundell was clear about the reason behind making the studio's existence public at this specific time, and it's because they are actively hiring new developers.

The team is actually recruiting developers, and the studio is still in the early stages of assembling talent and refining ideas. That's the official reason for coming out now and telling everybody he's part of this studio. Blundell continues to say that we're currently staffing up and keeping it kind of low-key. It's about getting the team to gel, bringing the ideas clicking, testing our assumptions, and making sure everything is working.

Both PlayStation and Call of Duty fans are optimistic about Blundell's comeback and his excitement about developing something new and interesting. Obviously, his track record in the industry suggests that Dark Outlaw Games might have something ambitious up its sleeve, whether that's a groundbreaking new IP or a fresh take on an established franchise.

While we don't really have any details about this specific project, PlayStation fans will surely be eager to see what this new studio has in store. Given his track record with Activision and Call of Duty, our best guess is we're getting another shooter game from PlayStation. 

On top of the shooter game being developed by People Can Fly, we now have something else potentially from this new studio, which lends itself well to the idea that it could be a shooter game. Both of these pieces of news seem to have come out within a few days of each other, as if PlayStation is communicating with the audience to say they've got shooter games coming in the next few years.