Departure Of Former PlayStation Boss Shawn Layden Cemented The Death Of Days Gone, Developer States

Although original anticipation for Bend Studio’s Days Gone grown immensely as it would for most Sony Interactive Entertainment-published titles would, the game was swiftly met with harsh criticism soon after the release of the game. With it also being one of the lower received releases of the generation for the platform, it was said that is the reasoning for the series’ sudden halt, according to Creative Director John Garvin told.

Additionally, the reception of Days Gone in terms of sales is said to be blamed for the lack of a follow-up as well, explained Game Director Jeff Ross. However, the true catalyst that withheld any opportunity for Days Gone to expand is the change of leadership at Sony Interactive Entertainment. When lead Shawn Layden departed in 2019, it was said the series was suddenly dead in its tracks.

The discovery comes from Ross when speaking on David Jaffe’s podcast recently revealing that Layden believed in the potential of the IP, but his departure ultimately left Days Gone to die. “As soon as Shawn [Layden] was gone, Days Gone was dead,” he explained. “The two dates were almost simultaneous. You can watch the segment of the show in the video below:

“In all honesty, and this is something I really wanted to  make people understand, John [Garvin] and I know this game was a flop. We’re not defending a 71 on Metacritic, but- our pride knows we created a great entry that we could build on top of and if it would let us.” He adds,” I think it was dead on arrival, y’know.

“It was very obvious that we shouldn’t be talking about Days Gone while we were working on the pitch and generating it. It was clear that it was a non-starter. And there was nothing in the pitch that made the local manager and his boss feel good about it. That’s probably a failure of the creative group, but it was just an uphill battle the whole time.”

In terms of future plans remaining for Bend Studio currently, the team is currently working on a new, unannounced IP. In a previous PlayStation Blog post, PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst verified that the Days Gone team is already at work on the new project, but it is undetermined where the development will lead. You can read the full report by heading here.

Are you upset with the path Days Gone has ended?