PlayStationis traditionally known for its high-quality AAA singleplayer games, but in recent years, the company has made a concerted effort to expand into the live service field. Back in 2022, Sony executive Hiroki Totoki told investors thatPlayStationhad plans to release more than 10 live service games by March 2026. This was, no doubt, an incredibly difficult goal to achieve, especially considering there weren’t really any studios under the PlayStation umbrella that had experience with live service titles at the time. The decision to launch so many GAAS games in such a short time frame also caused some controversy, since many were concerned that it would lead to oversaturation in the gaming market. Nonetheless, Sony pushed on with its endeavors.
So far, the results of PlayStation’s live service initiative have not been great, to say the least. Although Sony did release the immensely successful multiplayer shooterHelldivers 2early last year, just about every other attempt it’s made in this field has ended poorly. A few months ago, PlayStation launchedtheGuardians of the Galaxy-style hero shooterConcord, which sold so terribly that it was shut down just a few weeks after its debut. Several other GAAS titles, meanwhile, were outright canceled. Sony axed a handful of live service games from Naughty Dog, Firesprite, and Insomniac, then most recently, it shuttered projects from Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games, as well.
Bend Studio May Have Suffered the Most from Sony’s Live-Service Pivot
Sony Canceled Two Live Service Projects from Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games
Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported thatSony had canceled two unannounced live service gamesthat were in development at its first-party studios. One of them was a military shooter fromDays Gonecreator Bend Studio, and the other was a GAASGod of Wargame fromDemon’s Souls(2020) developer Bluepoint Games. Sony told Bloomberg, according to the report, that these two games were scrapped “following a recent review.” The company stated that it was working with Bend and Bluepoint to determine what their next projects would be, and noted that, despite these cancelations, the studios wouldn’t be shuttered.
Although it’s great that Bend Studio and Bluepoint are still going to remain open, the damage that’s been done to them is not easily going to be fixed, especially in Bend’s case. Back in the day, Bend Studio released games at a fairly consistent pace, from newSyphon Filtergames toUnchartedspin-offs. Lately, however, the company has launched practically nothing. The most recent game Bend Studio brought to market was the zombie action-adventure titleDays Gone, which came out on PS4 in 2019. Yes, 2019 may not sound that far away at first, but it was nearly six years ago.
Many of Bend Studio’s Projects Have Reportedly Been Shelved in the Last Few Years
It’s no secret that game development takes a lot longer than it used to these days, but Bend Studio’s case is exceptionally unusual. Most game developers can normally release a big-budget AAA game in 4 to 5 years, but Bend Studio has not only launched 0 games in 6 years, it also hasn’t announced anything, either. Surely, some might think,if Bend Studio had been developing a live service gamefor half a decade, it would have shown something by now. Well, according to earlier reports, Bend Studio did actually have other projects in the works, but they, too, were scrapped.
In 2021, some insiders alleged thatSony had canceled an unannouncedUnchartedgameand aDays Gonesequel, both of which were in development at Bend Studio. It was said that these titles were shelved in favor of making a new IP. However, as is now known, this new IP has also been canceled. If all of this is true, then Bend Studio has really been going through a rough time lately. It must be heart-breaking for employees at the company that none of the projects they’ve worked on for 5+ years will see the light of day. At the rate that things are going, Bend Studio may not release a single game during the entirety of the PlayStation 5 generation.
