Bend Studio’s Devs Had No Choice, Claims Ex-Director

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Summary

  • Days Gone director John Garvin empathizes with Bend Studio over its recently-canceled live-service game.
  • Garvin believes that Bend Studio’s developers had “no choice” when it came to PlayStation’s decision to cancel the project.
  • Bend Studio is currently determining its next project, and there’s a possibility the team may return to single-player games.

After the recent scrapping of Bend Studio’s live-service project, John Garvin, the previous director of “Days Gone”, has shown understanding towards the PlayStation first-party team. Though Garvin left Bend Studio in 2020 due to reported internal disputes over a possible sequel for “Days Gone”, it appears that he still holds fond feelings for the developers at the studio.

More recently, news broke out that PlayStation has scrapped two forthcoming live-service ventures from Bluepoint Games and Bend Studio, two of their internal development teams. Although it’s regrettable that the effort and investment put into these now-scrapped projects will not bear fruit, the cancellation of Bend Studio’s game seems to have left a larger impact on many PlayStation enthusiasts. Since 2019 when they released “Days Gone”, there appears to have been some internal disagreements within Bend Studio leadership regarding the sequel of the game. This discord eventually led to the exit of Jeff Ross and John Garvin, the directors of “Days Gone”. Consequently, Bend Studio has shifted its focus towards a fresh intellectual property.

Bend Studio kept details about their new project scarce, only mentioning it would build upon the open-world mechanics of Days Gone and incorporate multiplayer features. In December 2024, leaked UI concept art hinted at Bend Studio’s upcoming game being a live-service military shooter set in the world of live-service games. However, this project has since been canceled. Recently, John Garvin, director of Days Gone, expressed his sympathy for the affected staff members at Bend Studio on Twitter, stating that “this is a time for understanding,” regardless of personal opinions about live-service games or Sony’s first-party strategies. Garvin further wished the best for Bend Studio, a sentiment that will no doubt be well received by the developers.

Days Gone Director John Garvin Suggests Bend Studio Devs Had “No Choice” About Recent Game Cancelation

In another discussion, Garvin commented on a tweet expressing dissatisfaction within the PlayStation community regarding first-party games with live services. He acknowledged that this sentiment is valid but added that it’s tougher for developers who are forced to create these types of games. Interestingly, Garvin suggests that Sony may have chosen to halt development of Bend Studio’s live-service game instead of the developers themselves, a possibility that aligns with the cancellation occurring after a recent review of Sony’s first-party game portfolio.

It seems that PlayStation is collaborating closely with Bend Studio to decide on the next project for the studio. Since PlayStation’s live-service initiatives have faced challenges in recent times, there’s a strong possibility that Bend Studio might revert to its original style and create a single-player game, possibly even a sequel to Days Gone. However, due to the lengthy development process of AAA games, it looks like PlayStation fans won’t be hearing from Bend Studio until a few years into the PS6 era.

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2025-01-20 11:26