Harvey Smith, a prominent figure in the immersive sim genre and director of the original Dishonored, believes there remains a place for large-scale, big-budget immersive simulations. This perspective contrasts with the views of some peers, like Thief designer Randy Smith Evergreen, who has expressed concerns about the audience size for AAA immersive sims and suggested a move towards smaller budgets.
Smith, who recently departed Arkane Studios to found his own studio, Black Pony Immersive, acknowledged the validity of budget considerations. "You have to right-size your budget," he stated. However, he maintains that the potential for grand immersive experiences, exemplified by titles such as Deus Ex, Dishonored, and BioShock, is still achievable when projects are properly supported. "When it really comes together and it has the budget behind it and the team, you end up with Deus Ex or Dishonored or BioShock," Smith explained.
He also highlighted the critical importance of maintaining creative freedom, even when working with substantial budgets. "The thing you can't do is get so conservative with your features—which often happens the more money you're spending—[that] you don't do the fun, creative, interesting parts of immersive sims," he cautioned. Smith drew a parallel to less ambitious games, noting that a lack of player agency, like the simplified combat in the unreleased Wolverine, would be detrimental to the core tenets of an immersive sim.
Smith cited an example from his time as lead designer on Deus Ex, where players discovered emergent gameplay mechanics, such as using magnetic mines to scale walls. This kind of unexpected player creativity, he argued, is a hallmark of the genre, facilitated by robust AI and physics systems that allow for a wide range of player interactions and emergent scenarios.
"The AI is very analogue and fully featured, and the physics is very analogue and fully featured. And then you combine that with creative tools and a player who can often hide and observe, and it just becomes this explosion of possible permutations," Smith elaborated.
He also conceded that smaller development teams might face challenges in replicating this depth. "The person making their own attempt at an immersive sim might not have the sort of people-power, budget or time to make a system that has as much range and as much depth," Smith said. He warned that a lack of these core systems, even with strong artistic direction, could result in a game that is only adjacent to the immersive sim genre, missing its essential interactive qualities.
Ultimately, Smith concluded that a balance is necessary. "If you go too small or too large, then yeah, you probably lose something," he reflected, suggesting a nuanced middle ground that both he and Evergreen likely agree on.
The industry's recent consolidation and the immense pressure on blockbuster titles have led to studios facing significant challenges. Smith's own experience at Arkane, where projects like Dishonored 2 and Prey did not meet publisher expectations, and the eventual closure of Arkane Austin after the development of Redfall, underscore these difficulties. Arkane Lyon's future also remains uncertain following recent corporate restructuring.
With his new studio, Black Pony Immersive, Smith aims to create ambitious games free from the direct pressures of external publisher demands. While the studio has yet to announce its first project, Smith's commitment to the immersive sim genre suggests a promising future for fans of the genre, provided the right balance of budget, creative freedom, and core mechanics can be achieved.