Former Name of Obligation developer Jason Blundell’s new studio with Sony, Darkish Outlaw Video games, was shuttered this week, and now extra particulars concerning the crew and its recreation have been revealed.
Blundell and the sport’s degree designer JC Farmer mentioned the challenge on a livestream. To start with, Blundell stated it “f**king sucks” that the 20-person studio obtained shut down, however he stated he understands this stuff occur if you work for an enormous firm like Sony.
He additionally careworn that it is common for video games to be canceled earlier in improvement. He stated Darkish Outlaw might have gotten extra consideration on this regard as a result of the studio was owned by Sony.
“Are we upset? Yeah. I imply we’re laughing and we’re joking [on the stream] however you are depressed, you are unhappy, and you are going to mourn what might have been, as a result of we have been making a hell of a recreation,” Blundell stated, as reported by VGC.
The developer went on to say that previous to Sony’s determination to shut Darkish Outlaw, issues have been “glowing” and it was his notion that “what we have been doing was all good.”
Nevertheless, “[Sony is] an enormous firm, choices should be made, and I completely respect that. ‘It hurts slightly bit since you’re like, ‘Argh, it is lifeless,’ however you understand,” he stated.
For his half, Farmer stated he feels Darkish Outlaw was closed as a result of “business stuff” and never because of the high quality of what Darkish Outlaw was making. He may very well be referencing many alternative issues right here. Consultants have stated the AAA recreation enterprise is unsustainable as a result of ballooning budgets and different components. Only in the near past, reporter Jason Schreier stated AAA recreation initiatives can price $300 million or more to produce, with the vast majority of budgets going to developer salaries and overhead prices.
To ensure, we have no idea the finances of Darkish Outlaw’s recreation, and with solely 20 folks engaged on it, that would not seemingly match the invoice of a large-scale AAA manufacturing. It’s additionally unclear how early in improvement the Darkish Outlaw challenge was. The crew was fashioned in 2025 as an incubation studio.
Blundell added that he understands that “occasions change” and “focus adjustments” for an organization like Sony, and there may be casualties in consequence. “However the challenge we have been doing, what we have been doing, I believe followers would have been very excited. The very best recreation is the one you by no means performed, sadly,” he stated.
The Darkish Outlaw challenge was not a live-service recreation, however Blundell couldn’t share any extra particulars. It was simply the most recent setback for Blundell with Sony, as his earlier crew, Deviation Video games, was partnered with Sony for an unique earlier than getting shuttered in 2024.
An SIE spokesperson stated the closure of Darkish Outlaw, and different cuts to the PlayStation crew, got here in an effort “to assist long-term sustainability.”
“Sony Interactive Leisure’s Studio Enterprise Group has made a number of strategic changes to assist long-term sustainability,” the SIE spokesperson stated. “As a part of this course of, there have been restricted workforce reductions throughout choose groups. We drastically recognize the contributions of all these impacted.”
In 2025, Blundell stated it was “such a privilege” to begin a brand new studio with PlayStation. “Sony would not begin up first-party studios on a regular basis, so to have that privilege is humbling,” he stated. Additionally on the time, Blundell stated the crew had been working “within the shadows” for a while. The studio’s recreation was by no means revealed, nevertheless.
A since-deleted job advert for Darkish Outlaw seen by GameSpot stated the studio was aiming to make “the subsequent groundbreaking AAA authentic IP” as a part of a “lean and extremely environment friendly” improvement setup.
The closure of Darkish Outlaw comes not lengthy after Sony closed Bluepoint, a studio identified for constantly nice remakes.