Jason Blundell, a former creative lead on Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty: Black Ops series, has announced that he’s formed a new development studio called Magic Fractal Studios. Blundell announced the studio on a livestream with former Dark Outlaw Games coworker JC Farmer, a little over a week after the previous studio was closed by Sony.

Little is known about Magic Fractal beyond its logo and social media accounts. Dark Outlaw Games was similarly mysterious, and closed before it could even announce its first project. All that’s known is what Blundell has shared after the studio was shut down: Dark Outlaw wasn’t working on a live-service game. The distinction is notable, if only because live-service games have been connected to at least two notable studio closures in the past. Sony shut down Firewalk Studios in October 2024, not long after its live-service shooter Concord was released, and in February 2026, closed Bluepoint Games after its 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 with Sony’s backing in March 2025. Before that, he led Deviation Games, which was closed in 2024 and was reportedly also working on a game for PlayStation.