Arkane veterans Harvey Smith, Ricardo Bare, and Ben Horne have launched a new Austin-based studio called Black Pony Immersive. Operating quietly for a year with 26 staff members, the team is building single-player, first-person action RPGs centered on player choice, following the closure of Arkane Austin in 2024.
Following a tumultuous period marked by studio closures and industry layoffs, veterans of the acclaimed immersive sim genre are getting back to work. Former Arkane developers Harvey Smith and Ben Horne have spent the past year quietly building a new enterprise: Polygon.com. The Austin-based developer currently consists of 26 staff members, bringing together talent from major studios including Arkane, Insomniac, Epic, Avalanche, and Volition.
The formation of the studio comes at a notable crossroads for the immersive sim community. Just as Smith, Horne, and longtime collaborator Ricardo Bare announced their new venture, Deus Ex creator Warren Spector announced his retirement from game development after nearly 44 years in the industry. For fans of intricate, player-driven worlds like Deus Ex, Dishonored, and Prey, the simultaneous exit of a foundational pioneer and the birth of a new studio underscores a generational passing of the torch.
Building Through Industry Volatility and Rejected Blockchain Deals
The road to launching Black Pony was anything but straightforward. Microsoft’s closure of Arkane Austin in May 2024 left 96 developers out of work, including studio head Harvey Smith. Smith teamed up with Horne—who served as production director on Redfall—to secure funding in a hostile financial climate.
Smith tells GamesIndustry.biz that he and Ben Horne chose the worst time in history to start a game studio, asking what else they were going to do.
Fundraising required turning down compromises that conflicted with the founders’ creative goals. Horne noted that the team rejected prospective investors who pushed for web3 integrations. According to Horne, the discussions involved potential backers asking if the founders were willing to think about this NFT blockchain situation. Despite the difficulty of securing capital, the co-founders opted to turn down those deals to build their studio the right way.
Refusing Trend-Chasing in Favor of Core Immersive Sim Principles
Black Pony has not yet revealed the title, setting, or release window of its debut project, but the leadership team has made its design philosophy clear. Smith and Horne intend to avoid the industry trap of chasing fleeting market trends, choosing instead to focus on the narrative-rich, exploration-heavy mechanics that defined their previous work.
Photo: GamesIndustry.biz
“The industry is growing in such a way that there are a large amount of players with a really varied appetite. We don’t really know what turn the industry might take, and we’re probably not going to be very good at trend chasing. And so, our best shot is to rally around a creative vision that excites us as developers.”
Photo: Polygon.com
Ben Horne, co-founder of Black Pony Immersive, via The Game Business
That dedication to player freedom mirrors the survival mindset that birthed Dishonored in 2012. During Arkane’s early struggles, when the studio had only months of operating money left and was juggling multiple contract jobs, the team ultimately decided to abandon outside outsourcing and double down on a unified creative vision. That gamble paid off, producing one of the most culturally influential action RPG franchises of the past decade. Black Pony’s current roster—which includes long-time designer Ricardo Bare and veteran developer Monte Martinez—hopes to replicate that focused independence.
A Remote-First, US-Based Structure Designed for Nimble Development
Operating as a team of 26, Black Pony Immersive utilizes a remote-first structure while ensuring all full-time employees remain based in the United States to guarantee standard health-care benefits. By avoiding corporate conglomerates and top-down interference, the studio aims to maintain creative agility as development on their unannounced project continues.
Creating the sense of immersion for any game – with Harvey Smith. The House of The Dev S3E1
While major publishers continue to restructure and shutter long-standing studios—such as Meta closing Twisted Pixel in August 2025, where Horne had briefly worked—Black Pony represents a deliberate counter-movement. For Smith, Horne, and their reunited colleagues, the formation of the studio is a direct response to watching corporate entities dismantle experienced development teams.
