Highlights
- Sony is investing over $250 million in Bend Studio’s new IP, showing a high level of confidence in the project.
- Days Gone director Jeff Ross stated that a potential Days Gone 2 would have cost Sony approximately $150 million.
- Bend Studio’s new game may be a live-service title, building upon the open-world systems of Days Gone.
According to the director of Days Gone, Sony is reportedly investing over $250 million into Bend Studio’s next game. The studio has been fairly quiet since it launched Days Gone in 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 Gone suffered 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 even ported Days Gone to PC in 2021. Although it fared well with PC players, the Days Gone franchise was unfortunately put to rest, as Bend Studio announced that its next game would be a new IP. Moreover, according to recent comments from Days Gone director Jeff Ross, Sony may never continue the series either.
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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 that Spider-Man 2 had 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 that Bend 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 a potential Days Gone 2 would 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” of Days Gone and 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 from Days Gone writer John 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.
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Bend Studio
- Date Founded
- 1993-00-00
- Headquarters
- Bend, OR 97702, United States
- Parent Company
- Sony Interactive Entertainment , PlayStation Studios
- Known For
- Bubsy 3D