Summary
According to the director ofDays Gone, Sony is reportedly investing over $250 million into Bend Studio’s next game. The studio has been fairly quiet since it launchedDays Gonein 2019, only breaking its silence in 2021 when it confirmed some details about its next project.
As Bend Studio’s first new IP in years,Days Gonesuffered a somewhat controversial launch in 2019, as it was afflicted by technical issues which tanked its critical reception. Bend Studio eventually ironed out the bugs, and evenportedDays Goneto PCin 2021. Although it fared well with PC players, theDays Gonefranchise was unfortunately put to rest, as Bend Studio announced that its next game would be a new IP. Moreover, according to recent comments fromDays Gonedirector Jeff Ross, Sony may never continue the series either.
However, it appears Sony is betting big on Bend Studio’s current in-development project, as Ross separately reported that the company is supposedly investing over $250 million into the new IP. For perspective, the Insomniac leak in December revealed thatSpider-Man 2had a $315 million budget, and that’s a licensed Marvel IP, so Bend Studio’s next game reportedly coming close to it shows that Sony may be very confident in the project. It was discovered from recent job listings thatBend Studio’s next game may be a live-service title, so PlayStation could have seen a lot of promise in it.
A Days Gone Sequel Would’ve Cost Far Less, Claims Ross
Interestingly, Ross also revealed that apotentialDays Gone 2would have cost Sony approximately $150 million, lamenting the company’s decision to move away from the series. While that’s a far cry from the alleged budget for Bend’s current project, there’s no telling exactly which metrics Sony uses to gauge the success of existing and future games. According to Bend, the new IP will build upon the “open-world systems” ofDays Goneand incorporate multiplayer in some capacity, which could be a larger part of the game now that its potential live-service leanings may have been uncovered.
It’s important to note, though, that Ross no longer works at Bend Studio or Sony, so this information may be secondhand and possibly inaccurate.Bend Studio distanced itself fromDays GonewriterJohn Garvin back in 2022 due to his comments about “woke” reviewers being a big proponent of its mixed reception at launch, and Ross has been vocally critical of PlayStation management in recent years as well. If Ross' information is accurate, though, Bend’s next game might be shaping up very well behind the scenes to warrant such a large budget.
