Harvey Smith and Ben Horne Launch Independent Game Studio Black Pony Immersive

Harvey Smith, the former head of Arkane Austin and co-creator of the acclaimed Dishonored series, has partnered with longtime collaborator Ben Horne to establish a new independent game development enterprise called Black Pony Immersive. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, the new studio is dedicated to crafting single-player, narrative-heavy first-person action role-playing games—a design discipline frequently categorized within the industry as immersive sims. The launch of the venture was first reported by Engadget.

Smith brings decades of high-profile game design experience to the new venture, having served as a designer on the original Deus Ex alongside industry veteran Warren Spector before later co-leading the development of the Dishonored franchise at Arkane. Horne has worked directly alongside Smith for the past eight years, most recently holding the position of production director on Redfall at Arkane Austin. Joining Smith and Horne at Black Pony Immersive is Ricardo Bare, who steps in as the new studio's design director after previously serving as creative director on titles including Redfall, Prey, and Dishonored.

In addition to its core leadership team, Black Pony Immersive has assembled a staff featuring experienced developers drawn from several major interactive entertainment studios, including Insomniac Games, Epic Games, Avalanche Studios, Volition, and Arkane. Although the company maintains its primary physical base in Austin, it is operating under a distributed structure that incorporates remote staff members working from various locations across the United States.

The rollout of Black Pony Immersive comes during a period of substantial contraction and restructuring within the broader video game industry. Microsoft executed a series of major studio closures and staff layoffs across its Xbox division in July, an executive shift that followed the company's decision in 2024 to shut down Arkane Austin just three years after acquiring its parent enterprise. Furthermore, broader uncertainty remains across Xbox's remaining European operations, where proposed studio closures and project cancellations—including a planned game adaptation of Blade at Arkane's French studio—remain subject to review by local regulatory authorities.

The establishment of the studio also coincides with a notable transition among the genre's founding figures. Spector, who helped establish the structural conventions of first-person action RPGs and collaborated with Smith during the creation of Deus Ex, publicly announced his retirement from active game development this week. The timing highlights a major shift in creative leadership within the specialized domain of systemic, narrative-driven game architecture.

While Black Pony Immersive has not yet announced specific details or project schedules for its debut production, the studio's operational statement outlines a clear commitment to emergent mechanics, rich world-building, and high levels of player agency. The company's corporate launch material includes explicit references to Looking Glass Studios, the pioneering 1990s developer responsible for foundational first-person titles such as System Shock, Thief, and Ultima Underworld, writing on its official site that the team is "chasing a dream of mystery, meaning, and creative play."

Addressing the current market conditions and the rationale behind establishing an independent entity, Smith noted in a launch release that the studio aims to return to core game design principles. "During a time of industry volatility, I'm proud to announce the next step in my video game journey with the reveal of our new studio," Smith said. "This effort reflects everything we've learned, and all we hold dear. My favorite gaming memories come from seeing players approach challenges with creativity, deep-diving into our world building. We try to reward players for their curiosity and exploration. At our new studio, we're building exactly the kind of single-player games we're most passionate about."