Summary

  • Sony is rumored to be forming a new internal game studio comprised of former employees of Deviation Games, including Jason Blundell.
  • The new studio's project has not been announced yet, but many speculate that it could be a shooter given Blundell's experience with the Call of Duty series.
  • This move aligns with Sony's strategy to expand its media offerings and enter the live-service games market, as seen with previous acquisitions like Bungie and Firewalk Studios.

Sony could be building a new internal game studio made up of former employees of the California-based Deviation Games, according to industry leakers. Among those reportedly involved in the project is Deviation Games co-founder Jason Blundell, an ex-Treyarch producer and creative director known for his work on the Call of Duty series.

Deviation Games was founded in 2020 by Blundell and his colleague Dave Anthony following their long stints under publishing giant Activision Blizzard. The studio previously announced that it had started working on a new IP in collaboration with Sony's PlayStation brand, but the public has not heard about that partnership again, even after Blundell left Deviation Games in September last year.

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Blundell now seems to be working on an unannounced project for PlayStation parent company Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) with other former Deviation Games staff members. On Twitter, video game industry leaker Zuby_Tech shared the LinkedIn profiles of several ex-Deviation Games talents believed to be part of Blundell's project, including former design director Fred Thompson, former animation director Adam Rosas, former executive producer Pat Dwyer, and former principal animator Kristen Sych. All four joined SIE's video game development division, PlayStation Studios, at around the same time several months ago, with Thompson stating that he has been leading the design for an unannounced project. It is unclear if this is among the 10 live-service games Sony plans to release by 2026.

Former Deviation Games Employees Who Have Joined Sony Interactive Entertainment

  • Jason Blundell (rumored)
  • Principle game designer - Fred Thompson
  • Animation director - Adam Rosas
  • Executive producer - Pat Dwyer
  • Lead animator - Kristen Sych
  • Junior game designer - JC Farmer

Zuby_Tech also showed the LinkedIn profile of ex-Deviation Games community manager JC Farmer, who is now a junior game designer at PlayStation Studios. In a recent tweet, Farmer revealed that he works for Blundell, further painting the latter as the head of a new secret internal studio. Blundell's team would join a solid list of first-party game studios owned by Sony, should rumors turn out to be true.

While details regarding the project of the former Deviation Games members have yet to be revealed, many are speculating that it will be a shooter, considering Blundell's extensive work on the Call of Duty games. As PlayStation's current lineup of exclusives does not include a lot of FPS titles, having Blundell's unannounced team work on one would make a lot of sense.

Sony's decision to create a new studio tasked with pumping out shooters would be a continuation of the company's efforts to bolster its media offerings. PlayStation bought out Bungie, the legendary studio behind the Halo and Destiny franchises, for $3.6 billion last year in a bid to enter the live-service games market and strengthen its multiplatform presence. In April, PlayStation also bought Firewalk Studios, a developer that is currently working on a live-service game for the PC and PS5.