PlayStation Shuts Down Dark Outlaw, the Studio Founded by Former Call of Duty Lead
Studios have been closing left and right lately, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing. Reports show PlayStation shuts down Dark Outlaw, a first-person studio formed just last year by former Call of Duty lead Jason Blundell.
“I’ve had the amazing opportunity to create a new studio within PlayStation Studios for Sony,” Blundell said a year ago in an interview with Jeff Gerstmann. “The studio is called Dark Outlaw. We’ve been working away in the shadows for a while, when we’ve got something to talk about we’ll step out into the light.”
On March 24, Jason Schreier reported on Bluesky that more layoffs at PlayStation are underway, resulting in the complete closure of Dark Outlaw Games. Along with the studio shutting down, PlayStation is also making cuts, “including in mobile development. Around 50 people laid off,” Schreier reported.
More layoffs today: PlayStation is closing Dark Outlaw Games, a studio formed last year by former Call of Duty lead Jason Blundell (his previous PlayStation studio, Deviation, was shut down in 2024). PlayStation is also making other cuts including in mobile development. Around 50 people laid off.
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier.bsky.social) March 24, 2026 at 1:10 PM
Dark Outlaw was reportedly working on an unnamed project for Sony. A previous employee, Reed Austin, shared on LinkedIn that “many would have loved” the game, saying they were “pouring our hearts into” it.
This will be the second time Sony has parted with Blundell, the first being his previous studio, Deviation Games, which closed in 2024 after a project was cancelled.
Blundell was one of the lead creators of Call of Duty’s Zombies and left Activision in 2020 after 13 years.
This marks the second PlayStation studio that has closed its doors over the past few weeks. The first was announced in February with Bluepoint Games, which shut down this month. Bluepoint’s closing was heartbreaking news, as the studio is known for remarkable titles, including Shadow of the Colossus‘ remake in 2018 and Demon’s Souls.
The shutdown came after another working project, a God of War live-service, was cancelled.
The news was reported the same day that Epic Games Store CEO Tim Sweeney shared the news of mass layoffs to the Fortnite developer due to low engagement of the popular battle royale game. The layoffs resulted in over 1,000 people losing their jobs.
