Sony has confirmed the cancellation of two live-service PlayStation games in development at its in-house studios, Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games. Despite the cancellations, the company assured that both studios are secure and not at risk of closure.
According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, the project at Bluepoint Games was a live-service spin-off of God of War. The decision to halt these titles came after a recent internal review. Sony stated it is actively collaborating with each studio to identify their next projects.
While the company did not comment on potential job cuts at Bend Studio or Bluepoint Games, an internal email obtained by Bloomberg expressed Sony’s commitment to minimizing any business disruptions and supporting its teams through this transition.
The recent cancellations mark a challenging moment for two prominent Sony studios, both venturing beyond their usual expertise to work on live-service games. Bluepoint Games, renowned for its exceptional remasters and remakes of classics like Shadow of the Colossus and Demon’s Souls, had announced plans for an original game following its acquisition by Sony in 2021. Similarly, Bend Studio, best known for crafting immersive action-adventure titles like the Syphon Filter series and the 2019 open-world zombie game Days Gone, was also exploring new territory.
These developments highlight the ongoing challenges Sony faces in its ambitious push into live-service gaming. While the company achieved notable success with Helldivers 2 in 2024, other efforts, such as the hero shooter Concord, met with failure. Concord was removed from the market just two weeks after launch, leading to the closure of its developer, Firewalk Studios.
Sony’s ambitious foray into live-service gaming, unveiled in 2022 after its acquisition of Destiny developer Bungie, initially aimed to deliver 12 live-service titles by March 2026. This strategy, which positioned Bungie as a cornerstone of the effort, was heralded as a bold expansion into a highly competitive space dominated by established hits like Fortnite. However, the volatile nature of live-service development quickly posed challenges.
By November 2023, Sony scaled back its original target to just six live-service launches, citing delays and ongoing reviews of its projects. While the company maintained it had a total of 12 games in the pipeline, several faced setbacks. Since then, Sony has released Helldivers 2, launched and subsequently shut down Concord, and canceled high-profile projects such as The Last of Us multiplayer game and a rumored online Spider-Man title called The Great Web. Meanwhile, Bungie is gearing up for extensive playtests of its extraction shooter, Marathon, slated for 2025.