Bend Studio, the developer behind Days Gone, remains committed to creating exciting new projects despite Sony's cancellation of their unannounced live-service game. This follows Sony's recent cancellation of two unannounced live-service titles, one from Bend Studio and another from Bluepoint Games (reportedly a God of War live-service game). While Sony confirmed the cancellations and assured that neither studio would be closed, the move highlights the challenges Sony has faced in the live-service market.
Sony's foray into live-service gaming has been a mixed bag. The resounding success of Arrowhead's Helldivers 2, selling 12 million copies in just 12 weeks, stands in stark contrast to the failures of other ventures. The notable flop of Concord, a PlayStation Studios title, lasted only weeks before being shut down due to low player numbers, leading to the closure of its developer. This followed the cancellation of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us multiplayer project. Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida even commented that he would have resisted Sony's aggressive push into live-service games.
Bend Studio's community manager, Kevin McAllister, reassured fans in a tweet: "Thanks for the love and support everyone, especially to those that have reached out. P.S. We still plan on creating cool shit." This positive outlook suggests continued development at the studio despite the setback.
Sony's financial call shed light on the lessons learned from both Helldivers 2's success and Concord's failure. President, COO, and CFO Hiroki Totoki emphasized the need for earlier user testing and internal evaluations to identify and address potential problems before launch. He also pointed to Sony's "siloed organization" and the unfortunate release window of Concord, which coincided with the launch of Black Myth: Wukong, as contributing factors to Concord's failure. Senior vice president Sadahiko Hayakawa further highlighted the contrasting experiences with Helldivers 2 and Concord, emphasizing the importance of sharing lessons learned across studios.
Despite these setbacks, Sony continues to invest in live-service games, with titles like Bungie's Marathon, Guerrilla's Horizon Online, and Haven Studio's Fairgame$ still in development. The future of PlayStation's live-service strategy remains to be seen, but the company's commitment to learning from past mistakes suggests a course correction is underway.
