In the wake of the Concord debacle, Sony has made the decision to discontinue two live-service projects, including a potential entry in the God of War franchise. On a brighter note, amidst the layoffs affecting the gaming sector, Sony has assured that neither of the involved studios will be shutting down.
According to Jason Schreier from Bloomberg, Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games, two of Sony’s PlayStation teams, were developing separate live-service games—a category Sony has heavily invested in. The previous year saw Sony experience significant setbacks with Concord, following the success of Helldivers II. While live-service offerings can be risky, they can yield substantial profits when executed effectively.
One of the cancelled projects was reportedly related to the God of War series, which has disappointed fans who were eager for more content from this beloved franchise, especially since details about the game’s narrative or mechanics were not shared. While the company emphasized that these cancellations wouldn’t result in layoffs at the studios, the potential effects on employment within those teams remain somewhat unclear. An internal memo obtained by Bloomberg indicated that Sony is “working closely with Bend and Bluepoint to outline future projects and aims to minimize any business disruption.”

Sony has been striving to replicate the success seen with titles like Fortnite and Destiny through its own live-service games, but achieving that level of success has proven to be complex and challenging. In an era where nearly every game features some form of subscription service or battle pass, live-service titles must carve out a unique identity to attract players. Originally, Sony aimed to release a dozen live-service games by March 2026, but that target has since been cut down to six as of November 2023.