Sony has halted the development of two service games for the PS5. According to industry insider Jason Schreier, one of the two projects was even based on a very popular brand.
Which brand is it? As Jason Schreier reveals in a post on Bluesky Social, one of the two titles was said to be a game with the “God of War” license.
However, the game was not being developed at Santa Monica Studios, which has been responsible for the “God of War” series so far, but at Bluepoint. This studio 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-standing PS4 exclusive game Days Gone. What kind of setting the canceled game was supposed to have is not revealed in Schreier’s report for Bloomberg. What is certain, however, is that it was also supposed to become a service game.
No Studio Closures According to Sony
What does Sony say about this? A spokesperson for Sony has confirmed the cancellation of the projects according to Bloomberg. This decision was made “following a recent review.” Neither Bend nor Bluepoint are currently reported to be closing, and there has also been no mention of layoffs.
Bend and Bluepoint are extremely successful teams and valued members of the PlayStation Studios family. We work closely with each studio to determine what the next projects are.
How did the project stop come about? In recent years, Sony has increasingly focused on service games: that is, games that are continuously fed with new content to monetize them over an extended period. The plan has worked very well with Helldivers 2, but not at all with Concord.
While Helldivers 2 has managed to build a large and passionate community, Concord was taken offline just a few days after release. After this flop, Sony canceled several other projects that were already in development.
After the success of games like GTA Online and Destiny 2, it was actually Sony’s declared strategy to develop several high-profile live-service games. To this end, they even acquired Bungie. However, this strategy is now being critically questioned after Concord.
Currently, Sony is increasingly releasing remakes and remasters of previously published games for the PS5 and PC. This development displeases many fans, but the former PlayStation head explains why you have to buy remakes if you want new blockbusters for the PS5.
