A Fresh Start: Former Arkane Leads Launch Black Pony Immersive
Harvey Smith and Ben Horne, the creative minds previously at the helm of Arkane Studios, have officially embarked on a new venture. The duo has established a fresh development house dubbed Black Pony Immersive. Their stated mission is to craft ambitious, narrative-driven first-person action-RPGs, signaling a return to the immersive sim roots that defined their earlier careers.
This announcement follows their departure from the development of Redfall, the vampire-themed shooter that struggled to find its footing upon release. As the director and producer of that project respectively, Smith and Horne have recently opened up about the internal pressures and external factors that contributed to the title’s underwhelming performance.
The Trap of the Live-Service Trend
Reflecting on the development cycle, Ben Horne noted that Redfall was conceived during the height of the “games-as-a-service” (GaaS) gold rush. At the time, many major studios felt immense pressure to pivot toward recurring revenue models. Horne explained that the team spent significant energy attempting to reconcile Arkane’s traditional design philosophy with the demands of a live-service framework.
Harvey Smith echoed these sentiments, admitting that the studio was essentially “swept up” in the industry-wide obsession with GaaS. While Arkane had built a reputation for highly specialized, atmospheric single-player experiences, the pressure to scale up and reach a broader audience proved to be a double-edged sword.
Ambitious Scope and Industry Realities
Smith candidly addressed the hubris involved in the project, noting, “I had the foolish chutzpah to assume that it always works out for us.” The team attempted to layer complex mechanics-such as character classes and dynamic day-night cycles-onto their existing design DNA. This attempt to blend two disparate genres created a friction that the team struggled to resolve.
The challenges were further compounded by the global landscape. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced a sudden shift to remote work, disrupting the collaborative synergy essential for game development. Furthermore, the industry-wide phenomenon known as “The Great Resignation” led to significant turnover, causing a loss of institutional knowledge that made maintaining the project’s vision increasingly difficult.
Looking Toward the Future
With Black Pony Immersive, Smith and Horne appear to be pivoting away from the “bigger is better” mentality that plagued their previous work. By focusing on their core strengths in immersive storytelling, they aim to avoid the pitfalls of chasing market trends. As the gaming industry continues to see a correction-with many studios moving away from live-service models in favor of high-quality, focused experiences-this new studio is positioned to return to the style of gameplay that originally made them industry icons.
