Days Gone became one of the most popular PlayStation exclusives, and later on, with a PC port released. There are endless of zombies to fend off as you scavenge for food and supplies in this open-world survival game.
Will there be a Days Gone 2?
Days Gone 2 has yet to be given a release date due to the fact that the sequel’s existence has not been officially acknowledged as of this writing.
You may be wondering if they plan to release a PlayStation 5 version of Days Gone. If Days Gone 2 is in development, it won’t be for a long time, as Bend Studio recently announced it is working on a new IP.
Weeks before its release in 2019, a Sony PR man stated that “the goal is always to make a game that people love and want more of” Days Gone was considered by Sony to be a “franchise”. After a month of anticipation, the game was released and delivered solid numbers both at launch and throughout the year, thanks to the good word-of-mouth it had received from the gaming community.
But according to a report from Bloomberg, Sony has reportedly shelved Days Gone 2.
Has Days Gone 2 been Cancelled?
Days Gone 2 was rumored to have been canceled because of production issues and poor reviews, despite being profitable.
According to the report from Bloomberg, Sony Interactive Entertainment has decided not to make a Days Gone 2 sequel. The Bloomberg report claims that Sony Bend submitted a proposal for Days Gone 2, but Sony rejected it.
Although the first game had been profitable, “its development had been lengthy and critical reception was mixed, so a Days Gone 2 wasn’t considered a viable option,” Bloomberg states.
Since then, Bend’s former Game Director Jeff Ross has confirmed he was working on a Days Gone pitch but couldn’t confirm whether it had been canceled due to an NDA.
Days Gone would be the last game in Bend’s zombie-themed action-adventure series, and Sony made that abundantly clear. Days Gone’s financial and commercial success has been hotly debated, as have the possible reasons for the rejection of a Days Gone sequel pitch. Indeed, Days Gone has received a mixed reception from critics, and it appears that this has been enough to put the IP on ice for good.
Critics’ reaction to Days Gone may have been Sony’s primary concern. The PlayStation 4 version of the game received an average Metacritic score of 71, while the PC version received an average score of 89.
The possibilities for a Days Gone sequel are limitless, regardless of whether or not it is ever released to the public until a recent tweet from the game’s director Jeff Ross that made the game trending on Twitter.
It was made to feel like a disappointment for Jeff Ross and his team, even though Days Gone sold well, according to the game’s director. Even though Sony never agreed to a sequel, “local studio management always made us feel like a big disappointment,” says Ross.
According to Ross, the news that Ghost of Tsushima has sold more than 8 million copies is the reason for his thoughts and comments. Sucker Punch Productions, the studio behind the game, sent out a celebratory tweet to players thanking them for their loyalty.
Days Gone had been out for just over a year and a half when he left Sony and had sold more than eight million copies. There have been a further million sales since the release on PC via Steam.
However, Bend Studio was given little reason to celebrate for accomplishing this goal in almost the same amount of time Days Gone. It’s Ross’s contention that the criticism he and his team received was based on the game’s sales, not its review scores.
Jeff Ross’ Tweet solicited mixed comments, some were positive, such as the response from former Chairman of SIE Worldwide Studios, Shawn Layden.
Jeff Ross confirmed that back then when Days Gone was in the works until its launch, Shawn Layden was one of their biggest advocates in Sony.
With multiple big-budget releases during the PS4 generation, Sony achieved both critical and commercial successes. Games like God of War and The Last of Us were included, as well as new titles like Horizon Zero Dawn and Ghost of Tsushima. There were many big-budgeted single-player games released by Sony, all of which had some degree of success.
But commercial success will not always determine whether a game will have a sequel or not. Some may probably look at it that Days Gone became a hit because it was inexpensive, and was sold at sale price to compete with other games in an overcrowded genre.
Ghost of Tsushima sold millions at standard price on launch in its early days and there’s a big difference between selling 8 million copies at $60-$70, and 8 million copies at $20-$30 at a discounted price, which was the case for Days Gone after it was also released on PC.
