Sony has stopped developing two service games for the PS5. According to industry insider Jason Schreier, one of the two projects even used a very popular brand.
Which brand is this about? As Jason Schreier reveals in a post on Bluesky Social, one of the two titles is said to have been a game with the “God of War” license.
However, the game was not in development at Santa Monica Studios, which was previously responsible for the “God of War” series, but at Bluepoint. The studio most recently developed the remake of Demon’s Souls for the PS5.
The second canceled project was in the works at Bend Studio. This studio was behind the long-running PS4 exclusive Days Gone. Schreier’s report for Bloomberg does not reveal what kind of setting the game should have. What is certain, however, is that it should have been a service game.
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No studio closures according to Sony
What does Sony say about this? A Sony spokesperson confirmed the discontinuation of the projects, according to Bloomberg. This decision was made “as a result of a recent review”. According to current knowledge, neither Bend nor Bluepoint will be closed and there has been no talk of layoffs so far.
Bend and Bluepoint are highly successful teams and valued members of the PlayStation Studios family. We work closely with each studio to determine what their next projects are.
How did the project come to a halt? In recent years, Sony has increasingly focused on service games: games that are continually fed with new content in order to monetize them over a longer period of time. This plan worked very well with Helldivers 2, but not at all with Concord.
While Helldivers 2 was able to build a large and passionate community, Concord was taken offline just a few days after its release. After this flop, Sony canceled several projects that were already in development.
Actually, after the success of games like GTA Online or Destiny 2, Sony’s stated strategy was to develop several high-profile live service games. Bungie was bought for this, among other things. But this strategy is now obviously being critically questioned, especially after Concord.
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