PlayStation Cancels Two Unannounced Live-Service Games

ign.com:

Edit: The story has been updated to report that Bluepoint's canceled live-service game was a God of War title.

Sony has reportedly canceled two unannounced live-service games that were in development at Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games, respectively.

Bloomberg reports that Sony has ended production on two live-service games that were in the works at Bend Studio, best known for the zombie game Days Gone, and another separate game in the works at Bluepoint Games, best known for their remasters of games like Shadow of the Colossus and the Demon's Souls remake. The Bluepoint game was reportedly a live-service God of War game according to Jason Schreier.

A Sony spokesperson confirmed the cancellations to Bloomberg. Sony also added that neither studios will be closed and that they will work with them "to determine what are the next projects," from the two studios will be.

This is another blow to Sony's ambitious live-service game plans. In 2022, Sony acquired Destiny 2 developer Bungie and announced plans to have 12 live-service games running by the end of the 2025 fiscal year. Those plans have failed to materialize after Sony revised that number down to just six, of which Bend and Bluepoint's games were likely two of them.

Sony also closed down Concord developer Firewalk Studio, oversaw layoffs at Bungie, and canceled numerous online projects like Naughty Dogs' The Last of Us PvP game, a rumored Spider-Man online game, a live-service Twisted Metal game, and a third-person Destiny spinoff titled Payback.

This leaves just Bungie's Marathon and Haven Studios' PvP project still in the works, alongside continued support for Helldivers 2 which Sony is publishing. There are also rumors of two online Horizon games, one co-op experience and another being an MMO.

It's clear now that Sony seems to be rethinking its live-service strategy, but whether that means backing online projects it believes will succeed or abandoning the space altogether remains to be seen.

Matt Kim is IGN's Senior