Days Gone Developer Sony Bend Expands to Bigger Studio

Sony Bend is expanding! And it's reported that the expansion is not just for Days Gone. Looks like Sony is prepping this studio for bigger games in the future:

...in an interview with Studio Director Chris Reese, that the studio had from about 45 to 103 employees during the game’s development.

Looks like they might be aiming for a 2017 release if they increased the manpower so quickly.

The supposed permanent increase in Sony Bend’s workforce could imply that Sony has long term plans for the studio. Although, whether it involves a possible Days Gone sequel or another IP is yet to be known. Regardless, this is good news for both the game development industry as well as the PS4 community as a whole as we can expect more games to come out from the studio.

Looks like the studio is going to be around for a while. What do you guys think?

Thats good news. I live in Portland so its only a few hours away from me. Good for them

I love their PSP and Vita games, looking forward to their future work !

Sony is moving so much ass this gen. Good for PS4 owners.

Time to open new studios and let new talents inhabit them too.

I wonder how many of them are from Guerrilla Cambridge?

I am getting burnt out on zombie games. But I would love to see what else they could bring us.

Bend is an unsung studio within Sony's stable, but they are very much in a position of "what have you done for me lately?" As good as the Syphon Filter games on PSP and Golden Abyss were, the transition to PS4 has been protracted and their current IP overlaps with what is - in my eyes - the best game in Sony's portfolio (TLOU). With the shadow of TLOU2 hanging over Days Gone, I do hope that the game manages to find its own success but, more importantly, provides enough justification for Sony to allow them another opportunity. I wouldn't be upset if they returned to Syphon Filter, but it's sadly one of those franchises that may have run its course and the platform is better served by Bend pursuing something that is more primed for today's market.

I want State of Decay 2 to be good. I like the idea of a open world/zombie game. Dead Rising absurdity turned me off personally.

I liked State of Decay 1. I like Zombie games in general, but there are just so many.

Expanding game development studios instead of shutting them down. Huh, what a concept.

MS should take note.

https://gamerant.com/sony-closes-3-studios-developers-laid-off-seb-76932/

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-01-12-sony-closes-rigs-studio-guerrilla-

cambridgehttp://ie.ign.com/articles/2016/03/22/driveclub-studio-closed-down-by-sony

http://kotaku.com/5936821/sony-closes-one-of-the-oldest-video-game-developers-in-the-world

Sony closed way more studio's this gen. And by the way most of Sony first party releases so far came from Independent studios.

Microsoft closed Lionhead this gen that's it i believe?

Lmao... rekt.

@loe12k: nope. They shut down at least 7 in 2016 alone. http://m.windowscentral.com/microsoft-may-have-closed-five-more-internal-game-studios

@hrt_rulz01: http://m.windowscentral.com/microsoft-may-have-closed-five-more-internal-game-studios

Function Studios, Good Science, LXP and SOTA) Never heard of them and they never made a game for xbox or any device! You have to make a game to be a legitimate studio. Pressplay was a legitimate studio making a game, so we can count that.

We got 7 studios Sony laid off people. And 2 studios for MS

Thats awesome.

Days Gone is looking pretty good

Cant wait to see more gameplay at E3

@loe12k: that goal post move. They were studios. They could have been invested into but they were closed. And I like how you defend ms closing them but condem Sony for doing the exact same thing.

Where did I say that Sony has not closed studios this gen? Where? Quote me, please.

All I'm saying is that Sony is making the effort to expand a studio, something that MS should look into as well.

Sheesh. Calm down, sweetie.

I'm always happy to hear more people are working. Good for them and hope I enjoy their games.

If those studios had a large number of employees we would have read and heard about layoff's. Sony studios all made games and had a history of making games, big difference.

Rekt!

Cool that they are getting expanded, really hope they actually show something fun about Days Gone, because the footage we saw last year looked dull as ****.

@loe12k: they were still studios. They could have been expanded but they weren't. They could have been given work to do but that didn't happen. There's no need to damage control dude. This is normal in the industry.

@cainetao11: agreed. I hope some of them are from Cambridge

They should bring back Syphon Filter. It has a different setting from Uncharted and TLOU and if I recall its a spy type of franchise.

Days Gone does seem similar to TLOU but Days Gone is open world.

Look, you tried to make a point, and then you got "rekt", as they say.

You could at least be graceful about it.

State of Decay and DR are both zombie games but thats all for similarities. State is like a how to guide on it. I love that game more and more as I replay it finally on X1. Look forward to 2. Dead Rising games are pure hilarity for me. A few drinks and I LOL at the stupid stuff I can do in those games.

I haven't seen enough of Days Gone. The physics are cool watching zombies fall and pile up from automatic fire but what else? Obviously there will be more to it than that and hopefully we'll be treated to it at E3.

On March 8, Microsoft confirmed that BigPark, Good Science Studio, Leap Experience Pioneers, Function Studios, Team Dakota and SOTA had been consolidated during the past several years into other Microsoft Studios and teams.

They where not fired they got moved around to different studios.

And i did know this till i looked it up Microsoft actually has three new studios this gen Lift London, Soho Productions, and Mojang recently required. Microsoft studios you could have new studios emerging out of there if all we know? Microsoft purchased the Rise of Legends IP this gen too.

After i read you mention Cambridge I agree. Hate seeing any studio close because they arent a logo that just spits games out every few years. These are people with families. I've lost jobs due to corporate cutbacks and it sucks. I understand thats a part of big business.

Ok but who said people got fired? Shutting down a studio doesn't always mean they get fired. But that also means that there are less independent studios capable of creating more game content. They still shut them down.

No i didn't. Anyway you attacked MS for closing studios this gen? I said hang on minute there. Sony has closed more studios this gen!

I appreciate what you were doing there but i dont know nor care who closed more studios. SuperCowguy there should know Sony closed 5club studio right after that drek released. It happens. Using it in the SW is that old babybabck stuff.

You're asking a lot.

You guys are so crazy. I never even made a statement about Sony not closing studios; I know they close studios. I was just saying that expanding a studio, as opposed to closing it, is a step in the right direction. It's like every chance people around here get they shove words in your mouth.

Had to correct false facts lol!! Read Reduc post he was first to bring it up, so i corrected him.

I...don't even know what to do with you, dude. You made no correction. What you did was say that I said something I never said then corrected me on what I never said. Does that make sense, or are you truly that obtuse?

By the way, I love you. Not angry, but I don't like having words put in my mouth that I never spoke.

Sony fired people from their jobs laid them off. Microsoft did not fire them from their job, huge difference.

It certainly seems that way.

You wrote this

Expanding game development studios instead of shutting them down. Huh, what a concept.

MS should take note.

So i corrected you that's false. Sony has shutdown more studios this gen, fact!

I feel like I'm reading a Sean Spicer argument with Donald Trump

Where in that statement do I say that MS has shut down more studios than Sony this gen. Where. Please, show me, because I do not see it. I do not see it because it is not there. Dude what in the hell is wrong with you.

You know exactly what you meant. This may work in Trump America not here in Europe.

^^^^ LMAO I cant stop laughing!!!!

And you know exactly what you are doing, which is putting words in my mouth. Look, this is stupid. I despise Sony; I despise MS. Both of them shut down studios, both of them make people lose their jobs for no better reason than greed. I despise all corporations for many reasons, but most of all because they are evil. The entire system of global economics is evil. You are misinterpreting me, friend. But it's okay. Let's just get past this.

I past this already, i said what i needed to!

Actually there's no evidence of MS firing those developers or not, since they didn't make any public statements as they were consolidating over those years. So you can't say for certain that no one was laid off. But again, whether they were fired or not has nothing to do with the fact that they were development studios and were shut down by MS.

@Basinboy: "what have you done for me lately?" As good as the Syphon Filter games on PSP and Golden Abyss were, the transition to PS4 has been protracted "

Maybe I missed it, but what they released on PS3?

So I took a look at your list again. You claim Sony closed more studios this gen than MS. But two of your links are from closures from last gen.

Here's the real list for this gen alone:

MICROSOFT

Closures with layoffs:

Xbox Entertainment Studios

Press Play Studios

Lionhead

Microsoft Studios Victoria

Dissolved and consolidated into other studios (layoffs unknown):

BigPark

Good Science Studio

Leap Experience Pioneers

Function Studios

Team Dakota

SOTA

Sony

Closures with layoffs:

Evolution

Cambridge

That's it. Sony has only closed two studios. this gen. MS closed 10.

good news. maybe their next game after Days Gone wont take 6-7 years