Jason Blundell, the former creative lead for Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty: Black Ops series, has announced that he has created a new development studio called Magic Fractal Studios. Blundell announced the studio on a livestream with former Dark Outlaw Games colleague Jesse Farmer, a little more than a week after the previous studio was shut down by Sony.
Little is known about Magic Fractal other than its logo and social media accounts. Dark Outlaw Games was similarly mysterious, and shut down before even announcing their first project. Here’s what is known, from what Blundell shared after the studio closed: Dark Outlaw was not working on a live-service game. This difference is notable, if only because live-service games have been associated with at least two notable studio closures in the past. Sony to shut down Fireworks Studios in October 2024, soon after its live-service shooter harmony was released, and in February 2026, Bluepoint Games was shut down after a live-service game based on the God of War series was reportedly cancelled.
Magic Fractal is Blundell’s third studio after leaving Activision Blizzard in 2020. He formed Dark Outlaw Games in March 2025 with the backing of Sony. Previously, he led Deviation Games, which is set to shut down in 2024, and was also reportedly working on a game for PlayStation.
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