Leaked concept art from Deviation Games’ cancelled project. A wild mix of eerie vibes, cosmic chaos, and sci-fi flair.
Hold onto your controllers, folks. Some jaw-dropping concept art has just surfaced from a cancelled project by Deviation Games, the studio Jason Blundell launched after perfecting the art of undead chaos in Call of Duty Zombies. When Deviation shut down, many assumed Blundell’s next big thing was lost forever. Yet, thanks to some artists sharing their work online, 19 tantalizing glimpses into this unmade shooter have emerged. We will take a look at some of the most important pieces. They form a treasure trove brimming with atmosphere, mystery, and that signature Blundell magic. Let’s dive into these images and uncover what might have been.
Into the Wild: Jungles, Ruins, and Mystical Vibes
The environments hit hard from the start, echoing classic Zombies-era map design with an extra dose of intensity. One four-panel set includes a snake-like temple in the jungle, and a world of giant mushrooms – with some thin bird looking creature flying through the air. These places carry that “where am I?” energy Blundell mastered in maps like Shangri-La or Origins, tempting exploration while hinting at lurking danger – but with a more mythic and awe inspiring feel in the vein of Black Ops 4’s Chaos Story.
A trio of jungle scenes follows suit: golden sunlight cuts through dense canopies, a purple-hued dreamscape features stalactite-like vines, and a towering forest showcases jagged plants with muddy reflections. There’s also an alien jungle with lightning bolts jolting through the sky, complete with a river covered in glowing bugs, and the body of some large native planet creature decomposing in the swamp. These visuals paint a world both stunning and unsettling, a shooter setting where every biome promises hidden secrets.
Frozen in Time: Ancient Ruins and Mechanical Relics
The mood shifts to icy, ancient locales that recall Call of Duty Zombies at its eeriest. One piece reveals a frozen temple, icicles framing a massive carved doorway as two silhouetted figures gaze out from the dark. Another places an explorer in an ice cave, facing a colossal, shattered mechanical head half-buried in frost. A third shows a grand, crumbling hall where towering axe-wielding statues stand, their stone forms breaking under icicles while a tiny figure lingers at a cracked staircase’s base.
These scenes amplify the haunting grandeur of Der Eisendrache with a bold and mythological twist. The mechanical head suggests alien machinery or advanced relics, possibly shifting this mythology role onto some sort of ancient alien race, somewhat similar to the Keepers or Apothicons (as well as their inspiration, the Vril) in Zombies.
Cosmic Chaos: A Shooter Beyond Earth
The weirdness ramps up – One image captures an explorer looking up at a large, misfigured hand holding up some cracked and destroyed planet-like orb. The floor underneath features some sort of magical or ritualistic sigil. Another shows a robed statue overlooking a shattering sphere spewing golden energy. A space vista rounds it out, capturing a rocky planet with glowing rings and a fiery red moon trailing debris.
Blundell seems unleashed here, expanding cosmic hints from maps like Moon, Shangri La, or Revelations into a Destiny-sized vision. Somewhat like Starfield but with a more mysterious approach. This shooter might have sent players across alien worlds, chasing artifacts of immense power. The shattered spheres and towering statues point to a narrative with stakes spanning a universe, and potentially destroying planets.
Guns and Grit: Tools of the Trade
No Blundell game skips killer gear, and this art delivers. Deviation’s golden revolver, etched with “MERCY,” wrapped in rosary beads, and boasting a “.44 MAG” digital display, steals the show in the weapon designs. It blends old-school religious charm with futuristic Destiny-like flair, like a Zombies wonder weapon from a map never released. A tan-and-black sniper rifle with a high-tech scope promises precision kills in a next-gen firefight. An orange pistol with modular attachments, including a long sight, folding handle, and caseless rounds, potentially teases some sort of attachment or weapon mod system. And some sort of futuristic gauntlet, similar to the Gauntlet of Siegfried in Gorod Krovi, seems to suggest guns were not the only planned weapons.
These weapons tease a shooter centered on combat, merging Call of Duty’s tight gunplay with unique, story-driven tools.
The Hero We Never Met
A single character sketch stands out: a rugged warrior with a modern undercut hairstyle, blonde-red beard, and worn leather armor. Considering this is the only character design found so far amongst almost exclusively level and weapon design images – this sketch may be their first foray into exactly what their character design would look like here.
What Could’ve Been?
This cancelled Deviation project feels like Jason Blundell’s dream game: a first-person shooter rooted in Call of Duty Zombies DNA, stretched into a sprawling, narrative-driven adventure. You and your squad explore alien jungles and frozen ruins, wielding ornate guns and high-tech rifles, unraveling a cosmic mystery tied to ancient tech and shattered worlds.
Deviation’s collapse leaves the full story out of reach. Still, these leaks show Blundell was crafting something extraordinary, perhaps a spiritual successor to his Treyarch days. Share your theories with us on our socials: what do you think this game might have become? And Jason, if you’re out there, drop a hint about your next move! For more updates on everything gaming, as it unfolds, stay tuned to Detonated.
Images credited to former Deviation Games artist Michael Lacek, and others who shared their work post-cancellation.
