Sony has been pushing to break into the live service industry, seeking many avenues. While Helldivers II has been a major success, Concord found itself at the complete opposite end of the spectrum.
After Concord’s disastrous launch and subsequent shutdown, Sony is acting cautiously and, according to Bloomberg, has reportedly shut down two potential live-service projects. This is the first players have even heard about these projects, and now they’ll never come to fruition.
Two Live-Service Projects Canceled, One of Which is a God of War Game
Bluepoint Had a Multiplayer God of War Game in the Works
Bend is the developer behind the decidedly underrated Days Gone, which Sony has never greenlit a sequel for, while Bluepoint is behind greats like Shadow of the Colossus and Demon’s Souls. This would’ve been both studios’ first dive into the live-service genre, but Sony has axed both projects with the level of development reached unknown. Ideally, neither of these studios dedicated too much time towards these games, but ultimately, players now know that Sony has no issue trashing games that have been in development for years — see: Concord.
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While Bend’s dead live-service project may not ever be revealed, Bluepoint’s God of War live-service games leave many players wondering what exactly that would have looked like. Sony continues to try to make live-service games out of source material that is, ostensibly, unfitting for live service. The Last of Us live-service project was also axed back in 2023 and maybe had some potential given the whole mutated zombie aspect, but that franchise really thrives from its narrative.
Sony still has a Horizon live-service game in the works, a flagship franchise of theirs that has seen much success and now has a movie deal. Of course, once again, fans are a bit perplexed by what a Horizon live-service game would look like and would much rather see Horizon 3.
Still, Sony is determined to milk the live-service industry’s potential profit for all it’s worth, despite only managing one major success and leaving a string of dead projects behind them. While Helldivers II should feel like a job well done for Sony, their determination to expand on that success may be doing more harm than good.
Source: Bloomberg
Concord
- Released
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August 23, 2024
- Developer(s)
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Firewalk Studios
- Publisher(s)
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Sony Interactive Entertainment
- OpenCritic Rating
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Weak
