Sony have confirmed the cancellation of a dwell service venture amid mass layoffs at Sony Bend, the group behind open world zombie biker Days Gone.
Earlier within the week, Bloomberg reported that Sony Bend have been disposing of about 40 individuals, following the nuking of an unannounced live service game earlier within the 12 months. Amongst the individuals affected is former senior animator Robert Morrison, who announced his departure on Xitter.
The studio’s social media account acknowledged the layoffs, with out sharing actual numbers, including that Sony Bend “stay dedicated to constructing the way forward for Bend Studio with creativity, ardour, and innovation within the titles we craft.”
Now, Sony have confirmed the departures in an e-mail to Eurogamer. “Earlier this 12 months, Bend Studio wrapped improvement on a dwell service idea,” it reads. “After cautious consideration, we selected to not transfer ahead with it. Because the group shifts focus to its subsequent venture, we have made strategic modifications to higher place the studio for long-term success.”
“As a part of this transition, a workforce discount has taken place on the studio,” the assertion goes on. Once more, no onerous numbers. Based on Bloomberg, Sony Bend now have a brand new sport within the works.
All this continues Sony’s on-going partial retreat from blockbuster dwell service productions, which has seen them cancel The Last Of Us Online, a co-op Spider-Man and a new God Of War game regardless of 2022-era plans to launch more than 10 of the things by March 2026. As Brendy wrote in January, when information of the Bend venture’s abandonment first surfaced, Sony seem terrified by the failure of final 12 months’s Concord, which they shut down mere weeks into its shelf life after it didn’t accrue figures of enough bigness at launch.
To cite Arrowhead Video games Studio CEO Shams Jorjani from an interview in April: “Who amongst these executives is stepping down? Or slashing their salaries?” Better of luck to all affected.
