Bend Studio Vows to Create 'Cool Stuff' Despite Sony's Live Service Cancellation

The developer of Days Gone, Bend Studio, remains committed to creating innovative content despite Sony's recent cancellation of its unannounced live-service game. Last week, Sony pulled the plug on two unannounced live-service projects, one from Bend Studio and another from Bluepoint Games. While Bluepoint was reportedly working on a live-service version of God of War, details about Bend Studio's project remain under wraps. A Sony spokesperson confirmed these cancellations to Bloomberg, emphasizing that neither studio would be shut down and that they would collaborate on future projects.

Sony's push into the live-service gaming sector has been fraught with challenges. While Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2 achieved remarkable success, selling 12 million copies in just 12 weeks and becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game ever, other ventures have not fared as well. Sony's Concord, for instance, became one of the most notable failures in PlayStation history, shutting down shortly after launch due to poor player retention. This came on the heels of the cancellation of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us multiplayer game. Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida expressed that he would have resisted Sony's live-service focus if he were in the current CEO Hermen Hulst's position.

In response to the cancellations, Bend Studio's community manager Kevin McAllister took to social media to reassure fans, stating, "Thanks for the love and support everyone, especially to those that have reached out. P.S. We still plan on creating cool shit." This message underscores Bend Studio's determination to continue developing exciting projects, following their last release, Days Gone, which debuted on PlayStation 4 in 2019 and later on PC in 2021.

During a recent financial call, Sony president, COO, and CFO Hiroki Totoki reflected on the contrasting outcomes of Helldivers 2 and Concord. He acknowledged the need for earlier implementation of development gates, such as user testing and internal evaluations, to identify and address issues before launch. Totoki also highlighted Sony's organizational structure, suggesting that a less siloed approach could improve development and sales processes. He noted the competitive release window for Concord, which coincided with the successful launch of Black Myth: Wukong, potentially contributing to its failure.

Sony senior vice president for finance and IR, Sadahiko Hayakawa, compared the launches of Helldivers 2 and Concord, emphasizing the lessons learned from both successes and failures. He stressed the importance of sharing these insights across Sony's studios to enhance development management and post-launch content scaling. Hayakawa also outlined Sony's strategy to balance their portfolio with single-player games, which have a proven track record, and live-service games that carry higher risk but offer significant upside potential.

Looking ahead, several PlayStation live-service games are still in development, including Bungie’s Marathon, Guerrilla’s Horizon Online, and Haven Studio’s Fairgame$. These projects represent Sony's ongoing commitment to exploring the live-service model while learning from past experiences to improve future outcomes.