Sony has canceled two live PlayStation games from in-house developers Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games. The company confirmed the cancellation Bloombergand concluded that both studios were unthreatening from closure.
Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reported that the game Bluepoint is working on is a live-action spinoff of God of War.
Sony said the cancellations were made “following a recent review” and that it was “working closely with each studio to determine what their next projects will be.” A Sony spokesman did not say whether there would be job cuts at Bend and Bluepoint, but an internal email seen by Bloomberg shows that Sony plans to “do everything we can to have minimal business impact.” .
Still, it will be a destabilizing moment for studios that have seemed comfortable stepping out of their comfort zones when working on live-streamed games. Bluepoint is known as perhaps the leading remaster and remake studio in the gaming industry, thanks to its work on films such as Shadow of the Colossus AND Demon Soulsand at the time of its acquisition by Sony in 2021, it reported that it was working on an original game. Bend is best known for developing action-adventure games such as the spy series Siphon Filter and the 2019 open-world zombie game Days have passed.
The game cancellations come as Sony continues its live gaming efforts. In 2024, Sony had one substantial hit with its live service in the form of: Helldivers 2. But there was also a shameful removal Agreement and the closure of developer Firewalk Studios after just two weeks of operation for the hero shooter.
Sony’s extremely ambitious plan to provide live services was announced with fanfare in 2022, following the acquisition of Destiny studio Bungie, considered a pillar of the strategy. The plan was to launch at least 12 modern live services by the end of March 2026.
Sony’s ambitions have collided with the volatile and high-risk world of live game development – where the market is dominated by hits such as: Fortnite that it is extremely arduous to lure players away – these plans have been drastically reduced. In November 2023, the target was halved to just six matches. Sony said at the time that it still had 12 games planned, but had delayed some and was reviewing them.
