The developer behind the popular game 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 live-service projects, one from Bend Studio and another from Bluepoint Games, the latter of which was rumored to be a live-service God of War game, as reported by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier. While the specifics of Bend Studio's project remain under wraps, a Sony spokesperson confirmed the cancellations but reassured that both studios would continue operations and collaborate on future endeavors.

Sony's venture into live-service gaming has faced numerous 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, Sony's Concord turned out to be a significant disappointment, shutting down shortly after launch due to low player engagement. This followed the cancellation of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us multiplayer project. Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida expressed that he would have resisted Sony's push towards 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 the PlayStation 4, which later made its way to PC in 2021. In a recent financial call, Sony's 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 the process for Concord. Totoki suggested that earlier intervention could have either improved the game or led to its timely cancellation.

Totoki also criticized Sony's "siloed organization," suggesting that better cross-departmental collaboration could have prevented issues like the unfortunate timing of Concord's release, which coincided with the launch of the successful Black Myth: Wukong on PS5 and PC.

During the same financial discussion, Sony's 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. Hayakawa outlined plans to share these insights across Sony's studios to enhance development management and post-launch content strategies. He also highlighted Sony's intention to balance their portfolio with both single-player games, leveraging their established IPs, and live-service games that carry inherent risks but offer potential for significant rewards.

Looking ahead, Sony continues to develop several live-service titles, including Bungie's Marathon, Guerrilla's Horizon Online, and Haven Studio's Fairgame$.