Bend Studio, the developer behind Days Gone, remains committed to creating compelling 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, according to Jason Schreier of Bloomberg). While Sony confirmed the cancellations, assuring that neither studio would be closed and future projects are being planned, the move highlights the challenges Sony has faced in the live-service market.
Sony's foray into live-service gaming has yielded mixed results. The success of Arrowhead's Helldivers 2, a record-breaking PlayStation Studios title, stands in stark contrast to the failures of other ventures. The swift shutdown of Concord, a significant setback for PlayStation, underscores the risks involved. This follows the earlier cancellation of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us multiplayer project. Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida even voiced his reservations about Sony's aggressive push into live-service games.
Bend Studio's community manager, Kevin McAllister, reassured fans via Twitter, stating their continued dedication to developing "cool shit." Their last release was Days Gone (2019, PS4, and 2021, PC).
Sony's financial call shed light on the lessons learned from both the triumph of Helldivers 2 and the failure of Concord. Hiroki Totoki, Sony's president, COO, and CFO, attributed Concord's downfall to several factors, including delayed user testing and internal evaluations, a siloed organizational structure hindering collaboration, and an unfortunate release window that may have led to market cannibalization with Black Myth: Wukong. Sadahiko Hayakawa, Sony's senior vice president for finance and IR, emphasized the importance of applying lessons learned from both successes and failures to improve future development and management strategies. The company plans to balance its portfolio with single-player titles, leveraging established IP, and carefully managed live-service projects.
Despite these setbacks, several PlayStation live-service games remain in development, including Bungie's Marathon, Guerrilla's Horizon Online, and Haven Studio's Fairgame$.
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