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 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, the future direction of their projects remains unclear.

Sony's foray into live-service gaming has been a mixed bag. While Helldivers 2 achieved phenomenal success, becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game ever, other ventures like Concord ended disastrously, shutting down after a brief period due to low player numbers. This followed the cancellation of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us multiplayer game. Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida even 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 intention to continue developing "cool stuff." Their last release was Days Gone in 2019 (PC release 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, highlighted the need for earlier user testing and internal evaluations to identify and address potential issues before launch. He also pointed to Sony's "siloed organization" and Concord's unfortunate launch window, possibly contributing to market cannibalization due to its proximity to Black Myth: Wukong's release.

Sadahiko Hayakawa, Sony's senior vice president for finance and IR, emphasized the valuable lessons gained from both successes and failures, promising to share these insights across studios to enhance development management and post-launch content strategies. Sony's future strategy involves a balanced approach, combining their strengths in single-player games with calculated risks in live-service titles.

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

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