Sony has established a new first-party studio, Dark Outlaw Games, under the PlayStation Studios umbrella. The studio is led by Call of Duty veteran Jason Blundell, who confirmed the new PlayStation device in an interview on Monday. Brundle said Dark Desperado is currently hiring more staff. He didn’t reveal any details about the studio’s first project, but said an announcement would be made when there’s something to discuss.
Sony launches Dark Desperado game
The industry veteran announced Dark Outlaw Games in an interview with Jeff Getzman published on Monday. “I have an amazing opportunity to create a new studio for Sony within PlayStation Studios. The studio is called Dark Outlaw Games. We’ve been working in the shadows for a while, and when we have something to talk about, we step into the light,” Blundell said towards the end of the interaction.
Blundell said Dark Desperado is still finalizing its first project and said the studio is “replenishing staff.”
“But you know to me the story is about the game, it’s not about the studio, so the reason we’re not hyping it up or shouting it from the rooftops is like, let’s get something, right?” Blundell said.
“It’s such an honor to be able to work with Sony as a new first-party studio. You know, Sony doesn’t always set up first-party studios. It’s humbling to have this privilege. I’m really excited,” he continued.
Blundell said the studio is still “staffing” and has been “for some time,” but did not comment on what exactly the studio is working on. The former Treyarch developer said the task now is to “get the team together, get the ideas off the ground” and test hypotheses. Blundell said the team will “work tirelessly” to get the first project ready.
Blundell is best known for his work on Treyarch’s Call of Duty series. He is responsible for the single-player campaigns and zombies in several COD games, including Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Black Ops 3, and Black Ops 4.
The industry veteran left Treyarch in 2020 to form Deviation Games, which is backed by Sony to create original triple-A IP for the platform. However, Blundell left Deviation in 2022, and the studio subsequently suffered significant layoffs and closed in 2024.
