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, the cancellations highlight the challenges Sony has faced in the live-service market. While Helldivers 2 achieved phenomenal success, other ventures like Concord proved disastrous, leading to its swift shutdown and the closure of its developer. 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 with a simple yet powerful message: "We still plan on creating cool shit." Sony's financial call shed light on the lessons learned from both the success of Helldivers 2 and the failure of Concord, emphasizing the need for earlier user testing and improved internal evaluation processes, as well as addressing organizational silos and optimizing release windows to avoid cannibalization. Despite these setbacks, Sony continues to pursue live-service opportunities with titles like Bungie's Marathon, Guerrilla's Horizon Online, and Haven Studio's Fairgame$ still in development. Bend Studio's last release was Days Gone in 2019 (PC release in 2021).