Julius Posted January 16 Posted January 16 (edited) Schreier is reporting for Bloomberg that Bluepoint's and Bend's next projects have been canned – for the former, apparently this being a GAAS GOW (yes, a LIVE SERVICE GOD OF WAR). TL;DR: From his Bluesky (1, 2, 3) Quote BREAKING: PlayStation has canceled two more live-service games, from subsidiaries Bend and Bluepoint, Bloomberg has learned. Fans have long wondered what Bluepoint has been working on for the last couple of years. I can report it was a live-service God of War game. Quote PlayStation did not say whether the cancellations will lead to layoffs but did say the studios will not close. A spokesperson for PlayStation tells Bloomberg the company is working with Bend and Bluepoint to determine their next projects. Quote PlayStation fans have speculated for years about Bluepoint's new projects since the well-received PS5 remake of Demon's Souls (2020). I can report that from 2020-2022 they were helping on God of War Ragnarok. Since then they've been on the live-service project that was canceled today. Now, unclear... And from the article itself: Quote Sony Group Corp.'s PlayStation has canceled previously unannounced games at two of its top subsidiaries, the company said Thursday. The games, at Oregon-based Bend Studio and Texas-based Bluepoint Games, were both "live service" projects designed to have recurring revenue from players. They were part of an ongoing strategy for those types of games, launched by PlayStation several years ago, that has led to mixed results. A company spokesperson confirmed the cancellations. Sony didn't say if the cancellations will lead to studio closures or layoffs. In a memo to staff reviewed by Bloomberg, the company said it's "working closely with Bend and Bluepoint to determine what are the next projects and plan to do everything we can to ensure there is minimal business impact." The last two years have been difficult for the video game industry, which has seen tens of thousands lose their jobs in the wake of bad bets and slower growth. Cannot imagine what it's like to be at Bluepoint and Bend right now. Arguably the best dedicated remastering team in the industry between many of their efforts over the last decade plus, what with Shadow of the Colossus and Demon's Souls to the point that it's still debated if they're remakes or remasters (okay, yeah, their adherence to the original artistic intent is questionable perhaps) being wasted on a live-service God of War game? Not to mention that their MGS remasters are still the foundation of the recent MGS Master Collection Vol. 1? You continued with GAAS GOW for another year after you scrapped the actually great idea of a GAAS Spider-Man?! Bend, trying to bounce back from the disastrous launch of and workplace hell that was Days Gone -- just to get pushed to a live-service project which is ultimately canned too? It's out of control. No wonder we've all felt like it took so long for PlayStation to get going this gen, they've been shooting themselves in the kneecaps with a shotgun behind our backs all along! Jim Ryan, Hermen Hulst and whoever else is responsible for this should be ashamed of themselves. What a colossal waste of talent. Just praying they've got time to get something great - even if on the shorter side - out of these teams before the gen is up, and even more than that, that no-one ends up losing their jobs because of the Russian roulette their bosses are playing with their livelihoods by trying to go for GAAS success. Good lord, get a grip already people. Their management and higher-ups suck ass. Said it before but I really hope Astro Bot's incredibly public success last year really drove a stake through the vampire's heart that is PlayStation's GAAS approach. How had that approach not already been nuked from orbit?! To finish off, stolen and updated a quick round-up from ResetEra of the 12 GAAS projects we know PlayStation had in the works: Quote Concord (Firewalk) [launched, cancelled] Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead) Unannounced GoW game (Bluepoint) [cancelled] Last of Us multiplayer (Naughty Dog)[cancelled] Marathon (Bungie) Spider-Man multiplayer [cancelled] Twisted Metal (Firesprite) [cancelled] London Studio's co-op game (studio closed) [cancelled] Deviation Games' MP game [cancelled] "Payback" (3rd person Destiny spin-off from Bungie) [cancelled] "Gummybears" (New studio, formerly Bungie) Fairgame$ (Haven) (...did they miss out Bend or am I crazy here?) Okay, so out of 12 GAAS listed we know they had in the works, as of today: - 8 have been cancelled, including the generational disaster that was Concord (talking here about finances, not quality, to be clear). - 3 still in the works (Marathon by Bungie, "Gummybears" by former Bungie devs at a new studio, and Fairgame$ by Jade Raymond's Haven). - 1 actual successful launch (out of 2 launches, counting Concord) in Helldivers 2, which was a big success. So...they're 1 for 9 with 3 games pending. Brilliant track record that, and I'm sure that one success in Helldivers 2 totally offsets all the other failures. Edited January 17 by Julius 1
killthenet Posted January 17 Posted January 17 I've said it before and I'll say it again, Herman Hulst isn't very good at his job
Dcubed Posted January 17 Author Posted January 17 Can’t say that I had GOW Ascension 2 on my bingo card. Certainly a choice.
Hero-of-Time Posted January 17 Posted January 17 Yeah, that's just absolutely ridiculous and I have zero sympathy for the situation they've got themselves into. Shawn Layden warned them about doing this and it was no doubt why he got kicked out the door. Just the other day you also had Shu saying that he wouldn't have gone all in with live service games if he was in charge. Makes you wonder if his opposition to this model was why he was essentially side lined for the last couple of years. The thing that bothers me the most about this push is that they have used studios that are known for single player games. Just leave these developers alone and use ones that are known for multiplayer games. 1
bob Posted January 17 Posted January 17 Is Gummy bears just a codename, or are we actually getting the live-service Gummi Bears game everyone has been clamouring for? 1
Julius Posted January 21 Posted January 21 (edited) A Horizon MMO which was in the works at NCSoft - not to be confused with Guerrilla's cartoony in-house Monster Hunter-type GAAS - has reportedly been cancelled. Per South Korean news outlet MTN: Quote It is understood that some of NCsoft's new games and live games have received a notice of decision to stop development or service as a result of a feasibility review. Games under CBO Lee Seong-gu, including "Pantera," "H," and "J," are reportedly included in the list, raising questions about whether development of "Pantera," also known as "Raise Lineage M," will actually be halted. Quote According to an interview with MTN on the 13th, members of the undisclosed new product development team, including 'Pantera,' 'H,' and 'J' under the CBO of NC Lee Sung-koo, were notified to stop development. Of these, 'H' and 'J' have already disappeared from the company's organizational chart. The decision to stop development of 'Pantera,' 'H,' and 'J' was made at the end of last year, and at the beginning of the year, the development team members were reportedly notified to prepare for internal transfers. In the case of 'H', it is reported that the team will be transferred to Lineage's IP headquarters after the development office is disbanded. These project names tie into previous job listings and employee histories which suggested a Horizon MMO was in the works. NCSoft are also reportedly not having the best of years, with one of their chairmen saying that it's basically do-or-die for them in 2025, which is likely the reason for the Horizon MMO project being brought to a halt and cancelled. Edited January 22 by Julius 1
Hero-of-Time Posted January 21 Posted January 21 Not too surprising given the other cancellations. I wonder if Fairgame$ will still make it to release? That thing got slammed just as hard as Concord and it only had a teaser trailer.
Dcubed Posted January 21 Author Posted January 21 31 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: Not too surprising given the other cancellations. I wonder if Fairgame$ will still make it to release? That thing got slammed just as hard as Concord and it only had a teaser trailer. I think it's more likely that FairgameDollarSign will be getting heavily redesigned, rather than outright cancelled. It may also get a name change, given how much of a meme it has become. Sony have poured too much money and time into it now to just cancel it. That sunk cost fallacy is very real.
Julius Posted January 22 Posted January 22 19 hours ago, Julius said: A Horizon MMO which was in the works at NCSoft - not to be confused with Guerrilla's cartoony in-house Monster Hunter-type GAAS - has reportedly been cancelled. So, update on this: apparently this isn't the case? Someone on Korean gaming forum Ruliweb apparently asked NCSoft reporter SEO Jeong-geun if Project H is related to the Horizon MMO -- which it apparently isn't? Quote Hello, I am reporter Seo Jeong-geun. I saw the article you mentioned, and the H I mentioned has nothing to do with Horizon. I hope there is no misunderstanding. Thank you, and I wish you a happy holiday -- ----------Original Message ------ Subject: Reporter Seo Sir, I have an inquiry regarding your NCSoft article. From reading around a bit more on this, my understanding is that it seems like NCSoft graduate their projects out of their initial project names once they begin production, so, in this instance, the Horizon MMO was labelled as Project H and then graduated to become Project Skyline. The confusion seems to stem from the fact that they then labelled another upcoming project as Project H following this, and it is this game which got cancelled. I can kind of see why they're having problems now... Anyways, see y'all in 3-6 months when it actually does almost inevitably get cancelled, I guess!
Julius Posted January 22 Posted January 22 Insomniac CEO Ted Price has announced his retirement after three decades since founding the company in 1994 (Ted's SIE post here; the link in the below tweet is to the PS Blog entry by the new Insomniac co-heads!). Chad Dezern, Ryan Schneider and Jen Huang will be taking over as co-studio heads.
Dcubed Posted January 22 Author Posted January 22 About time he finally got to enjoy a good sleep. Fair play to him.
Julius Posted January 24 Posted January 24 Video from PlayStation highlighting their Access controller a year on: Quote Access to Play: How PlayStation's Controller Transforms Disabled Gamer's Lives. Join Jared Grier and Alejandro Courtney as they share their journeys overcoming disability with the PlayStation Access Controller. Discover how this innovation empowers gamers to reclaim their passion for gaming. Love so much of what they and others in the space have been doing for accessibility!
Ashley Posted January 24 Posted January 24 Yeah the push to take accessibility more seriously over the last 5 or so years is a welcome development in gaming.
Julius Posted January 29 Posted January 29 SIE have announced that Hideaki Nishino has been appointed as president and CEO. Herman Hulst will remain the head of PlayStation Studios and report to Nishino.
Julius Posted January 30 Posted January 30 The PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4 anniversary themes are leaving tomorrow – but there are plans to bring them back in the future: My mind instantly went to them being sold, and maybe introducing some new themes as well, but then:
Julius Posted Sunday at 10:55 AM Posted Sunday at 10:55 AM Rumours swirling from Nate on Reddit that a State of Play is coming the week of Valentine's Day, which would seem about right to expect anyways. Quote User: Is the first State of Play of the year still coming in February? NateTheHate2: Yes User: Can you say if it's early, mid or late February? NateTheHate2: What does your heart tell you? The big PlayStation game this year I'd want more news on is Ghost of Yōtei, but I don't see Yōtei releasing until September onwards (autumn vibes to that cover art) and I doubt we get a release date while GTA VI's remains in limbo, so that'll probably come at a later point? So, realistically, the main things I'd want to see in the next State of Play are release dates for Snake Eater, which has been totally MIA since TGS a few months, and the Xbox games officially confirmed to be coming to PlayStation in Spring but have yet to see release dates: Indiana Jones and The Great Circle and Forza Horizon 5. These are all games I'm totally down to pick up Day 1, I just need dates for them! Besides them, I don't think there's much else I want or expect to see at the next SoP, but I'm open to being pleasantly surprised. It feels like Square Enix are going to hold their potential goods back for the Switch 2 event, I imagine, so I don't see the Tactics or IX Remake turning up here (if I had to pick one I guess it'd be IX purely because of its ties to the original PlayStation) and likewise for anything Dragon Quest or anything I want out of Chrono Trigger. Probably see one of the upcoming PlayStation GAAS titles? Really curious to see how the next one is presented in a post-Concord world. Got to imagine a Death Stranding 2 update is due at this point as well, maybe that could get a release window or even a date, what with it being billed for release this year too? I'd say my hype is pretty subdued for this one, if nothing else because I know exactly what I want to get out of it, but I'm excited to get some release dates for the games I want to see -- so it's hard to complain!
Julius Posted Monday at 02:48 PM Posted Monday at 02:48 PM PlayStation new release highlights of the next month: What's everyone in for? For me, I think I might finally buy my first new release of 2025 – but I'm still undecided on whether that's Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii or Monster Hunter Wilds. Very curious about Afterlove EP, there's also Tiny Terry's's Turbo Trip finally coming to console to keep an eye out for, too.
Julius Posted Tuesday at 06:17 PM Posted Tuesday at 06:17 PM (edited) Yet another Microsoft game coming to PlayStation, this time Age of Mythology: Retold on March 4th. PlayStation Store link Starting to think Xbox are getting everything out of the way ahead of/around the rumoured State of Play so that they don't feature... I need that Forza Horizon 5 date Phil! II also coming. Quote This spring, the globally beloved Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition will make its debut on PlayStation 5. Alongside this release, we'll be dropping one of the most exciting DLC expansions for Age II: DE yet, packed with fresh new content, new civilizations for Ranked play, and ready for all players to enjoy together across all platforms – PC, Xbox , and PlayStation 5. Edited Tuesday at 06:22 PM by Julius
Ike Posted yesterday at 06:21 PM Posted yesterday at 06:21 PM On 2/3/2025 at 2:48 PM, Julius said: PlayStation new release highlights of the next month: What's everyone in for? For me, I think I might finally buy my first new release of 2025 – but I'm still undecided on whether that's Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii or Monster Hunter Wilds. Very curious about Afterlove EP, there's also Tiny Terry's's Turbo Trip finally coming to console to keep an eye out for, too. I think this is earliest I've ever received a game before the release date. I'm off to post spoilers on Youtube! ...Is what I would say, but it's going straight on to the backlog. 1
Julius Posted 22 hours ago Posted 22 hours ago Dungeons of Hinterberg finally arrives on PlayStation on 13th March!
Julius Posted 2 hours ago Posted 2 hours ago (edited) New additions teased for PlayStation: The Concert! Uncharted, Astro Bot, Journey, Bloodborne, Helldivers Hilarious to me just how much the Naughty Dog one made me think of Days Gone – Bend just can't escape their shadow! Third one I could tell purely from the colour of the video lmao, 0:19 and the fourth one had me FREAKING OUTTTTTTT Super excited, this'll be my first concert and it's exclusively celebrating one of my favourite hobbies Edited 2 hours ago by Julius Actually despise these spoiler tags
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