Summary
According to a former Deviation Games employee,Sonymay have started a new internal studio comprised of developers from the now-shuttered studio. Founded in 2020 byCall of Dutyveteran developers Jason Blundell and Dave Anthony, Deviation Games was working on a brand-new AAA IP forPS5, but unfortunately had to close its doors in March 2024 after a rough few years.
Deviation Games announced its partnership with PlayStationduring the 2021 Summer Games Fest, which turned a lot of eyes towards the nascent studio. Many wondered what kind of original AAA project it was developing, beyond co-founder Dave Anthony’s promise of it “expanding PlayStation’s portfolio in a very significant way,” as well as the partnership guaranteeing continued financial stability for years to come. Sadly, the game’s development was tumultuous, with co-founder Jason Blundell exiting the studio in 2022, and then major layoffs affecting 90-odd employees in 2023. One year later, the studio shut down before it could ever release its debut game.
However, aLinkedIn post from Michael Anthony, a former Deviation employee, suggests the studio’s story may not have come to a close after all. According to Anthony, “a lot of previous Deviation Games employees” have been hired for a new PlayStation studio working on an “undisclosed new IP.” Anthony was previously a Technical Director at Deviation, so it’s plausible that he’d be in touch with his former colleagues and be aware of their pursuits. The LinkedIn post also alludes to Jason Blundell leading the project’s development, which possibly verifies a previous rumor aboutSony building a new studio with former Deviation staff.
The Evidence for a New Blundell-led Studio is Plentiful
This notion was set off by a December 2023 tweet from another former Deviation Games employee, JC Farmer, who mentioned that they were working as a junior game designer for PlayStation Studios under Blundell. This was just over a year after theDeviation Games co-founder had departed the studio, and with Anthony’s post, the odds are now slowly stacking up in favor of a new internal PlayStation team, primarily made up of ex-Deviation employees.
At the time of writing, the studio remains unnamed and undisclosed, so it could be possible that Blundell’s team may be assisting with the development of another studio’s project. However, considering it consists of some ofDeviation’s “top class developers,” per Anthony, it’s equally likely that the new team may be working on its own game. It would be very interesting if it’s the same projectDeviation Games was working on prior to shutting down, but that question will probably remain unanswered for a long time.
