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 recent cancellation of its unannounced live-service game. This follows Sony's decision to also cancel an unannounced live-service God of War title in development at Bluepoint Games. While neither studio will be closed, Sony acknowledged the challenges faced in the live-service market. The cancellation highlights the difficulties Sony has encountered in this space, with previous live-service titles like Concord experiencing disastrous launches and low player numbers, leading to its closure. This follows the earlier 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 live-service push. Bend Studio's community manager, Kevin McAllister, reassured fans that the studio is still focused on creating compelling games. Sony's financial reports indicated that lessons have been learned from both the success of Helldivers 2 and the failure of Concord, emphasizing the need for earlier user testing and internal evaluation, and addressing organizational siloing that hindered effective collaboration. Sony plans to balance its portfolio with proven single-player titles alongside live-service games, acknowledging the inherent risks involved. Several PlayStation live-service games are still in development, including Marathon (Bungie), Horizon Online (Guerrilla), and Fairgame$ (Haven Studios). Bend Studio's last release was Days Gone in 2019 (PlayStation 4) and 2021 (PC).