Days Gone maker Bend Studio has been hit by layoffs. Roughly a third of the first-party PlayStation team was reportedly cut following the recent cancelation of an unannounced live service project.
About 40 developers at the Oregon-based studio have been laid off, Bloomberg reports. The project they were previously working on was canceled earlier this year amid a purge of some internal live service projects, including an online God of War spin-off at Bluepoint Games. The team is now working on something new, according to Bloomberg, though whatever it is seemingly won’t see the light of day anytime soon.
“Bend Studio laid off a bunch of people today,” senior animator Robert Morrison posted on X. “I was a part of the layoffs. I did my best. Hopefully I can find a new team to join.” Sony didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Best known for the Syphon Filter espionage games in the PS1 and PS2 eras, Bend Studio later moved on to developing handheld ports of first-party franchises like Resistance and Uncharted before eventually making 2019’s open world zombie blockbuster Days Gone. The game didn’t review as highly as some PlayStation exclusives but still sold well.
While fans pined for a sequel, the studio hasn’t released a game since. Days Gone received a PS5 version earlier this year but has otherwise laid dormant as Bend Studio reportedly worked on a new live service IP. Leaked images made it appear like the now canceled game was an online multiplayer loot shooter of sorts, though no official details about the project were ever shared publicly.
The Bend Studio cuts are the latest self-inflicted wound of a PS5 generation live service pivot that’s left Sony conspicuously short on big first-party blockbusters. Live service spin-offs of Twisted Metal and The Last of Us were also canceled, while Concord’s launch went so poorly the company refunded the game and shutdown the studio behind it which had acquired just a couple years prior.
Another upcoming online shooter, Fairgame$, was recently delayed according to Bloomberg after it received negative feedback from external testing. That studio’s head, Jade Raymond, departed around the same time.
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