Dark Outlaw Games is a LA-based developer that was first acknowledged in 2025, but its history starts years prior. DO was founded by Jason Blundell, who was co-studio head of Treyarch until 2020. He's best known for directing Campaign and Zombies modes in Black Ops 3/4, but his history with the IP began with 2006's COD3. Due to this pedigree, he was able set up his own studio within 1 year... Deviation Games.
At SGF 2021, he and fellow COD veteran David Anthony announced Deviation and a Sony partnership to fund their new AAA shooter IP. However, this was the last time we'd hear from Deviation, which closed in March 2024. Sony pulled funding around the time Blundell left in 2022 - likely to form Dark Outlaw within PS Studios. According to LinkedIn, poaching of Deviation employees then began around early 2023.
Regardless of what happened at Deviation for Sony to pull funding, they clearly believed Blundell wasn't the founder causing an issue. Especially as Anthony has been self-employed since Deviation closed. Now as Dark Outlaw, Blundell's studio is almost certainly creating the PS5 game Sony originally wanted from Deviation. But this time, Sony owns both the team and IP.
Little is known about Dark Outlaw as it's only been discussed once, in an interview about Blundell's whole career. They're hiring up, while slowly ramping development and prioritizing team cohesion so the best ideas naturally rise. Considering the history, DO's title will likely resemble Deviation's game, which based off its futuristic sci-fi concept art, was inspired by Black Ops 3/4.
While it's a GaaS, there's also still reasons for optimism compared to other Sony live-service titles. DO's title is still years away, which is advantageous because Sony can analyze any mistakes made with upcoming live-services like Fairgames/Marathon and not repeat them. Blundell also has time to reflect on Deviation and ensure mistakes aren't repeated at Dark Outlaw.
Blundell's recent co-op-focused career with COD Zombies also compares favorably to the competitive games just mentioned. Helldivers 2's adamance on no PvP was a big reason why it's Sony's one live-service that succeeded. So the more DO leans into the co-op blueprint, the stronger the chance their game has to succeed.
Genre: Live-Service Shooter
Release Date: Unreleased
Days Since Their Last Game: N/A
Metacritic Score: N/A