There has been a lot of drama going around this weekend in regards to Sony Bend and the recent report that the studio pitched a Days Gone sequel to Sony and it was rejected. According to Bloomberg, Bend originally pitched a sequel to Sony back in 2019 but it was rejected due to the critical reception of the original game. Sony did not see Days Gone 2 as a viable option.
While fans loved the game, and we did too, Sony seems to have canned the sequel project in favour of a new game that Bend are currently working on. However, Days Gone 2 would have been something great according to the few tidbits of information provided by former Sony Bend game director Jeff Ross.
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In a recent live stream with God of War creator David Jaffe, Ross hinted at the sequel’s gameplay saying the studio had plans to introduce a significant online mode with a shared universe and online co-op. The game mode was originally pitched for the first game but never made it into the package.
Ross says that it would have been a secondary mode and the studio planned it so it wouldn’t have complicated the overall story of the Days Gone sequel in any way. The studio originally wanted players to build clubhouses together and explore the world and take on hordes with friends. He says a horde battle with a group would have changed everything.
“It would’ve been a secondary mode if we’d have done it in the first one, or even in another one. I wouldn’t have complicated the main narrative… because that’s really what we’re good at. That was the strength of the first title, so build on that and make it better.
“But then take this world that you’ve built, and all these assets and systems, and repurpose them for some sort of similarly themed multiplayer version of this universe. So [it] would be with guys like Deacon trying to survive, building up a clubhouse or a crew. I think it would be fun to be in that world cooperatively and see what horde battles could be like.”
On paper, Days Gone 2 with co-op sounds fantastic but in the end, Sony rejected the pitch and Jeff Ross understands why. He states during the live stream that these triple-A games are not cheap to make. These sort of games need to sell four or five million copies just to break even and Sony needs to have the confidence in the return in order to greenlight a project.
“Sony doesn’t have the cash that Microsoft does and they’ve got to use it very intelligently and they’ve got to stay focused on a diverse portfolio.”
