Bend Studio Affirms 'Cool Content' Creation Post-Sony Cancelation

Bend Studio, the developer behind Days Gone, remains committed to creating exciting new games despite Sony's cancellation of their unannounced live-service title. This follows Sony's recent decision to scrap two unannounced live-service projects, one from Bend Studio and another from Bluepoint Games (reportedly a God of War live-service game). While Sony confirmed the cancellations, assuring that neither studio would be closed and future projects are being planned, the move highlights the company's struggles in the live-service market.

Sony's foray into live-service gaming has been a mixed bag. The phenomenal success of Arrowhead's Helldivers 2, achieving 12 million sales in just 12 weeks, stands in stark contrast to the failures of other ventures. The disastrous launch and subsequent shutdown of Concord, described as one of PlayStation's biggest gaming failures, further underscores these challenges. This follows the earlier cancellation of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us multiplayer game. 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 via Twitter, stating their continued intention to develop "cool shit." Their last release was Days Gone in 2019 (with a PC port in 2021).

Sony's financial call shed light on the lessons learned from both Helldivers 2's success and Concord's failure. Hiroki Totoki, Sony's president, COO, and CFO, emphasized the need for earlier user testing and internal evaluations to identify and address issues before release. He also pointed to Sony's "siloed organization" and Concord's unfortunate release window, potentially leading to market cannibalization with Black Myth: Wukong, as contributing factors. Sadahiko Hayakawa, Sony's senior vice president for finance and IR, echoed the sentiment, highlighting the valuable lessons gleaned from both successes and failures, which will inform future live-service strategies. Sony's future live-service plans include titles from Bungie (Marathon), Guerrilla (Horizon Online), and Haven Studio (Fairgame$). The company aims for a balanced portfolio, leveraging its successful single-player IPs while strategically managing the risks associated with live-service games.