The developers at Bend Studio recently reassured fans that they remain committed to creating exciting content, even following the cancellation of an unannounced live-service game by their parent company, Sony. Last week, Sony announced the shelving of two in-development live-service titles, one from Bend Studio and another from Bluepoint Games, rumored to be a live-service iteration of God of War. Despite these setbacks, a Sony representative confirmed that neither studio will be closed and that future projects are yet to be determined.

Sony’s venture into live-service gaming has faced numerous challenges. While Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2 achieved remarkable success, selling 12 million copies within 12 weeks, other attempts have either been scrapped or met with poor receptions. Sony’s Concord, one of the largest failures in PlayStation history, lasted only a few weeks before being taken offline due to insufficient player engagement. This followed the cancellation of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us multiplayer project. Shuhei Yoshida, a former PlayStation executive, expressed his belief that he would have opposed Sony’s aggressive push towards live-service games if given the opportunity.

In response to fan concerns, Bend Studio’s community manager, Kevin McAllister, posted a brief message on Twitter, expressing gratitude for the support received and affirming the team’s intention to continue producing innovative content.

Bend Studio’s latest release was Days Gone in 2019, which later became available on PC in 2021. In a recent financial discussion, Sony President Hiroki Totoki acknowledged lessons learned from both the success of Helldivers 2 and the failure of Concord. Totoki emphasized the importance of implementing earlier development checkpoints, such as user testing and internal evaluations, to address potential issues earlier in the production cycle.

Sony’s Senior Vice President for Finance and Investor Relations, Sadahiko Hayakawa, highlighted the contrasting outcomes of Helldivers 2 and Concord during the financial call, emphasizing the shared knowledge gained from both experiences. Sony aims to apply these insights across its studios to refine its development processes and optimize future title releases.

Moving forward, Sony plans to balance its portfolio by combining established single-player games, leveraging their proven IPs and predictability of success, with live-service titles that carry higher risks but offer significant potential rewards. Several live-service projects are currently in development, including Bungie’s Marathon, Guerrilla’s Horizon Online, and Haven Studio’s Fairgame$, signaling Sony’s continued interest in the live-service gaming sector.