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

The developer behind Days Gone, Bend Studio, remains committed to creating innovative content despite Sony's recent cancellation of their 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, the latter rumored to be a live-service God of War game, as reported by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier. A Sony spokesperson confirmed these cancellations but reassured that neither studio would be shut down, and they would collaborate on future projects.

Sony's venture into live-service games has faced significant 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 attempts have faltered. Notably, Concord turned out to be a major disappointment, lasting only a few weeks before being taken offline due to low player engagement. This led to its complete shutdown and the closure of its developer. The failure of Concord followed 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 push into live-service games 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 thank fans for their support and hinted at future projects, stating, "Thanks for the love and support everyone, especially to those that have reached out. P.S. We still plan on creating cool shit." Bend Studio's most recent release was Days Gone in 2019 for PlayStation 4, which later came to PC in 2021.

During a recent financial call, Sony president, COO, and CFO Hiroki Totoki reflected on the contrasting fortunes of Helldivers 2 and Concord. He admitted that Sony should have implemented development checkpoints, such as user testing and internal evaluations, much earlier in Concord's development cycle. Totoki suggested that earlier intervention could have either improved the game or led to its timely cancellation.

Totoki also criticized Sony's "siloed organization" and the timing of Concord's release, which coincided with the launch of Black Myth: Wukong, potentially leading to market cannibalization. He emphasized the need for better coordination across Sony's departments and more strategic release windows to avoid such issues in the future.

Sony senior vice president for finance and IR Sadahiko Hayakawa echoed these sentiments, comparing the launches of Helldivers 2 and Concord. He stressed that the lessons learned from both successes and failures would be shared across Sony's studios to enhance development management and post-launch content strategies.

Looking ahead, Sony continues to develop several live-service games, including Marathon by Bungie, Horizon Online by Guerrilla, and Fairgame$ by Haven Studio. These projects reflect Sony's ongoing commitment to the live-service model, albeit with a more cautious approach informed by recent experiences.