Developers from the recently shuttered Dark Outlaw Games have revealed that their cancelled PlayStation project was not a live-service game, contrary to widespread assumptions. The studio, led by Call of Duty veteran Jason Blundell, was closed by Sony this week. The team attributes the cancellation to broader industry challenges rather than project quality.
Sony shut down Dark Outlaw Games on Wednesday, ending development on an unannounced PlayStation 5 project just a year after the studio's founding. The team was headed by Jason Blundell, a veteran of the Call of Duty series. While many speculated the project was a live-service title amid Sony's recent retreat from such ambitions, developers clarified otherwise during a Twitch stream with junior game designer JCBackfire and Blundell, as first reported by Eurogamer.net. JCBackfire expressed enthusiasm for the project, stating he 'loved the type of project' and was 'stoked about' the fact that 'it wasn't a live-service game'. Blundell echoed this sentiment, noting that 'times change, focus changes, but the project we were doing and what we were doing… I think fans would have been very excited.' He added wryly, 'The best game is the one you never play.' The developers described the closure as painful but understandable, blaming a 'tough business environment and industry stuff' rather than any flaws in the game itself. They expressed no resentment toward PlayStation. This follows other Sony studio closures, including Firewalk after its live-service shooter Concord was pulled offline two weeks after its 2024 launch on PC and PS5. More recently, Bluepoint Games—known for the Demon's Souls remake and Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection—was also shuttered.