Call of Accountability dilapidated’s unique PlayStation first-celebration studio is legitimate, known as Darkish Outlaw Games

Former Call of Duty’s Jason Blundell has validated prior reports that he is leading a new PlayStation first-party studio, which he revealed is named Dark Outlaw Games.

Blundell left Call of Duty developer Treyarch—where he held the position of studio co-head and served as game director for Call of Duty’s Zombies mode—in 2020, and was announced to have co-founded a new studio, the Sony-backed Deviation Games, the following year.

However, Deviation allegedly encountered a “challenging situation” in 2023, resulting in nearly 90 job losses, and the studio ultimately shut down last March. Yet, just months later, it was reported that Blundell was establishing a new PlayStation first-party studio from the remnants of Deviation, with “many” former Deviation employees joining him to develop an undisclosed new IP.

There has been little additional information since, but now Blundell has confirmed the news in an interview with journalist Jeff Gerstmann, revealing his new group’s name in the process. “I’ve had the fantastic opportunity to establish a new studio within PlayStation Studios for Sony,” he stated. “The studio is named Dark Outlaw [Games and we’ve] been toiling away in the background for a while, and when we have something to share, we’ll emerge into the spotlight.”

“But you know, for me, the focus is on the game, not the studio,” he continued, “so the reason we’re not making a big deal or shouting it from the rooftops is because we want to ensure what we’re doing is right.” According to Blundell, Dark Outlaw is still “building up its team,” but details about its first project remain confidential. “Not going to really comment on what we’re doing specifically,” he advised Gerstmann, “but [it’s currently about] getting the team to mesh, getting the ideas aligned… let’s test those hypotheses, and see if it resonates.”

The confirmation of Dark Outlaw Games’ existence and its secret new project arrives amidst significant upheaval at PlayStation Studios, as Sony continues to move away from the live-service strategy announced by former PlayStation head Jim Ryan in 2022. Since 2023, Sony has halted the development of Naughty Dog’s multiplayer The Last of Us game, a Tw