Bend Studio Dev Says 'We Still Plan on Creating Cool S**t' After Sony Live Service Cancelation

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 decision to scrap two unannounced live-service titles, one reportedly a God of War game from Bluepoint Games, and another from Bend Studio, whose specifics remain undisclosed. While Sony confirmed the cancellations, assuring that neither studio would be closed, the company's overall live-service strategy has faced significant challenges.

Sony's foray into live-service gaming has yielded mixed results. The resounding success of Arrowhead's Helldivers 2, achieving record-breaking sales, stands in stark contrast to the failures of other ventures. The abrupt shutdown of Concord, a PlayStation live-service game, after a short, poorly-received run, serves as a cautionary tale. This followed the earlier cancellation of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us multiplayer project. Even former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida voiced his reservations about Sony's aggressive push into the live-service market.

Bend Studio's community manager, Kevin McAllister, reassured fans via Twitter, stating their continued dedication to developing compelling games. Their last major release, Days Gone, launched in 2019 for PlayStation 4 and later on PC in 2021.

Sony's financial reports revealed a post-mortem analysis of both Helldivers 2's triumph and Concord's failure. President and CFO Hiroki Totoki highlighted the need for earlier user testing and internal evaluations to identify and address potential issues before launch, or to make informed decisions about cancellation. He also cited Sony's "siloed organization" and Concord's unfortunate release window, coinciding with the popular Black Myth: Wukong, as contributing factors to Concord's poor performance.

Sony's senior vice president for finance and IR, Sadahiko Hayakawa, emphasized the valuable lessons learned from both successes and failures, emphasizing a commitment to sharing these insights across its studios to improve future development and management. The company plans a balanced approach, leveraging its established single-player franchises while strategically pursuing live-service opportunities with a more calculated risk assessment.

Despite the setbacks, several PlayStation live-service games remain under development, including Bungie's Marathon, Guerrilla's Horizon Online, and Haven Studio's Fairgame$.