Deviation Games, the studio formed by ex-Call of Duty developers has lost one of its most important figures, in the form of co-founder Jason Blundell. Blundell, one of the most important figures in the history of Call of Duty, in so small part due to his work at Treyarch on the zombies mode, which went on to become an important pillar of the franchise in the many years to come. Having gone on to depart Treyarch in 2020, to co-found Deviation Games, Blundell oversaw the studio’s agreed partnership with PlayStation on an exclusive new IP developed for PlayStation platforms.
In a post on Deviation Games’ social media platforms, the studio announced the departure of Blundell with the following;
Deviation Games is annoucing that Jason Blundell has left the studio. We appreciate the contributions Jason has made and we wish him the best in his future endeavours. Deviation will continue to be led by CEO Dave Anthony, who also assumed the role of Game Director this past year and remains a guiding force as we look ahead.
We are excited to announce that Louis Castle has joined Deviation Games as Senior Vice President of Development. A video game industry veteran with two Lifetime Achievement awards, Louis co-founded WestWood Studios, best known for creating the legendary Command and Conquer franchise.
Louis is joined by an incredible roster of industry veterans who recently joined the studio including God of War alumni, Jonathan Hawkins, and Dean Rymer and Call of Duty: Black Ops guru Tony Flame. This plethora of talent makes Deviation uniquely equipped to continue leading the ever-evolving games industry into the future, including with the continued development of our previously-announced, groundbreaking AAA original IP.
The new “groundbreaking AAA original IP” is still something we know little about beyond it’s exclusivity to PlayStation platforms. When it was announced during Summer Game Fest in 2021 CEO Dave Anthony said the following on the PlayStation Blog
We’re drawing on what we’ve learned over our collective decades making games, but we’re also out to make something fresh and brimming with innovation like you’ve never experienced before. We’re not afraid to say that our ambitions are super high: we’re setting out to make a huge, content-rich game with a focus on a lot of action and a lot of energy, but let’s leave it at that for now and hopefully it won’t be long before we can share more.
While Blundell’s reasons for leaving the studio are unclear, it seems that the studio has been proactive in finding suitable replacements with the aforementioned Tony Flame, Jonathan Hawkins, and Dean Rymer, all blessed with their years of experience on beloved titles that should leave the studio in good stead into the future.
