480°

How Bend Studio Turned Days Gone From a Mess to a Masterpiece

Bend Studio managed to take Days Gone from a rocky launch and turn it into a must-play masterpiece for the PS5. If you pick up Days Gone today, you might wonder why it received such lukewarm reception from critics. However, behind this game is a story of a studio with lofty ambitions and an unwillingness to quit.

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keengamer.com
waverider1146d ago (Edited 1146d ago )

The game was never a mess. The game was too ambitous, size wise, for the PS4, for the crappy CPU. The hordes were huge and it effect the game. But its not a masterpiece either. The problem in many review is the generic excuse that you can use in any game, but then forget it on other. It was the first big project from Bend Studio and the game was great. Graphics wise even with unreal engine the plastic look that we see in other games like Outriders on everything wasnt there.

Sonic-and-Crash1146d ago (Edited 1146d ago )

yes exceptionally good mechanics there and fun gameplay also keeping you attached to the whole game....though it had some flaws , mainly artistically that made the game not so appealable at first sight (main characters design , overused zombie lore etc)

waverider1146d ago

I liked the RPG´s aspects of the game, upgrading and driving the bike, The weather system was impressive, Also liked the guns and the feel of them. Played a lot the hordes mode. Must go back and try it in the PS5.

jukins1146d ago

Even on ps4 hordes where playable. For me it was the game play loop in between hordes. It was just to much the same over and over. Although i will say 60fps on ps5 definetly makes it that much better

thorstein1145d ago

Definitely. I don't understand how this story was approved when this claim is a blatant lie.

Knushwood Butt1145d ago

The community approves a lot of trash.

badz1491145d ago

what ironic is, most of these people calling Days Gone a mess were the people trying their best to prove that CP2077 is running just fine

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1145d ago
Storm231146d ago

Game is amazing on the PS5. Had a blast with it. Would have loved a sequel but at least the game showed me that I should be excited for whatever Bend is doing next.

jukins1146d ago

Yep what they did rightbwas amazing. I feel if they streamline their strenghts into a less open world title they will have another hit

Thundercat771146d ago

I am very impressed at how good this game looks on PS5.

cammers19951146d ago

This game was so underrated. I loved it.

Hikoran1146d ago

4 words that made it incredible. Life's for the Living.

Fluttershy771146d ago

does the 's count as a word or not?

F0XH0UND9221146d ago

It's a conjunction, so no lol

Fluttershy771145d ago

@F0XH0UND922 but it's a conjunction of a word. As you can probably tell English is not my native language, so I'm sincerely asking, when you are counting words in an expression like this one... does the conjunction count as a word or not?

The_Sage1145d ago

The conjunction is one word. I understand why you'd wonder about that.

1145d ago
Hikoran1144d ago

It's a song. It should say correctly "Life is for the Living" but as this is sung, it's said Life's, as in life is.

Fluttershy771146d ago

Sorry, I won't give Deacon von Mumbling another chance

cammers19951146d ago ShowReplies(1)
F0XH0UND9221146d ago

Yeah, someone with severely diminished critical thinking skills would let a thing like that bother them enough to avoid the game. Don't reproduce, bro.

1145d ago
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80°

Every PlayStation Studios game available now on Windows PC

Windows Central writes: "Many PlayStation Studios games that are ported to PC get dedicated PS5 DualSense support, which allows users to experience haptic feedback and adaptive trigger support without actually having to own a PS5.

According to Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation Studios, it's still the company's intent to launch the bigger single-player games on PS5 first, before later bringing the games to PC. This might not be the case for multiplayer games however, which are considered okay to launch simultaneously on console and PC."

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windowscentral.com
ocelot0711h ago

My guess is after god of war. Probably last of us 2 that's a almost 4 year old game now and by the time it's released on pc it will be more than 4 years old or close to 5.

Elda5h ago

Every old Playstation game that is now on PC.

XiNatsuDragnel4h ago

Good at least they can sell hardware

360°

Days Gone Director Says Bend's Project Costs Over $250M; Says PS Co-CEO Doesn't Want 2 Zombies Games

Days Gone director claims Sony has already poured in at least a $250M in Bend's project; says Days Gone sold more than Death Stranding.

shinoff21831d ago

Well that sucks. Seems they want more online trash. I'd rather of had the sequel if it was single player

MrNinosan9h ago

What online trash games did PS Studios release last 10 years?

Notellin7h ago

The past has nothing to do with the future. This is such a terrible argument. Everyone knows about their current live service push.

_SilverHawk_6h ago

It's so tragic what happened to days gone. It is such an amazing game but bandwagoners trashed it and it underperformed in it's launch year. Days gone is the best open world zombie game released in the past five years. I was recently playing it on pc and I'm still amazed by it.

Games are very expensive to make and it seems like it's normal for a AAA game to cost over a quarter billion to make so if a quality game like days gone greatly underperforms then people shouldn't be upset when they see a lot of GAAS. I still remember a lot of bandwagoners calling days gone trash but years later it's now amazing when it's considered a failure by sony.

If a game isn't the best thing seen since hats with pockets then a lot of gamers who haven't played it automatically calls it rubbish and whoever made it should be incarcerated

Cacabunga5h ago(Edited 5h ago)

Co CEO prefers gamers to boycott.. so be it. I’ll never buy a gaas.
Just imagine buying a game you cannot replay in some years.. this shit must stop.

Days Gone did zombies in a very original way. The story was also so engaging. You actually only meet Zombie hordes later in the game. There are many more enemy groups to deal with.

MrNinosan3h ago

@Notelin
I am one of the few who bought Days Gone on release day and loved it completely.
However, "more online trash" is phrased like Sony has put out alot of trash online games.
We got what, 2 games? Helldivers 2 and GT7, 2 of the most sold Playstation games where both is loved by millions.

You, me and especially shinoff has no idea if Fairgames, Marathon and Concord will be trash.

Just because we (as in you and me) don't love or support online games, doesn't mean millions of other do.

And we don't know what Bend Studio is working with? We don't know if they're forced to make a online game or another amazing single player experience.

The only thing we do know is that it's not Days Gone, sadly due to poor sales the first 6 months.

shinoff21831h ago(Edited 1h ago)

More online trash wasmt meant how insee it comes across. I should've worded it different I was meaning the focus they currently have on it.

Anything online is online trash to me. How long did naughty dog spend on that dumba last of us multiplayer, how about Concord, or even the other couple we hear about. I fk with Sony because rpgs and their 1st party single player games. Been like that for years. I hate seeing them waste time, money, and talent on trash. I understand bot every game is gonna be for me but this focus they've seem to had on multiplayer is extremely disheartening. Even at the state of play the only things I was really feeling were Astrobot and silent hill 2 and I'm content with that, not everything is for me. It's just the online focus I hate. Ms bought up 3 to 4 wrpgs developers, Sony just ignores rpgs 1st party wise.

And a days gone 2 would've been much better then whatever online sht bend is working on. I do know sometimes I get very idk emotional. I do need to work on toning that down a bit lol

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 1h ago
-Foxtrot1d ago

It would be a shame if it was true that Hermen never gave the franchise a chance simply because he didn't like it and they already had a "Zombie" game with TLOU.

NaughtyDog are most likely moving onto a new IP next so it would have been the perfect time to do it.

ThinkThink16h ago

Here's where xbox steps in and releases state of decay 3 day and date on ps5.

shinoff21831h ago

I mean it's not out of the realm of possibility at this point.

Grilla9h ago

Days gone 2 was canceled before Herman was in charge. That happened like 4 years ago.

vfl5238h ago

4 years ago he was head of Playstation Studios. He would've probably had a hand in the cancelation.

Notellin7h ago

Man two seconds of research could have saved you from this comment. Amazing work Grilla you fit in with the uniformed N4G community who speaks before verifying anything that they say.

Redemption-646h ago

Maybe encourage people to buy the game at full price and not when it's heavily discounted or go on plus. If this game had sold well when it was full priced a sequel would have been in the works. They made a single-player game that most people didn't support until they dropped the price.

Cacabunga4h ago

The guy’s just a moron.. he should have stayed within game development. His choices will have a terrible impact on the brand in the long run.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1h ago
excaliburps10h ago

Yep. Kind of weird since it wasn't a sales flop, no?

I know we have to take what Ross says with a grain of salt since we're hearing just one side of the story, but even so, the game wasn't bad at all. Heck, it's my brother's favorite last-gen game from what I recall.

The amount of zombies on screen, imagine that with the PS5 and SSD? That would be insanely fun!

Grilla9h ago

Most copies were sold on sale. Not enough ppl bought it at full price. I paid 20$ for it 6 -7 months after release.

Notellin7h ago(Edited 7h ago)

Yeah we should never believe the creators side until we hear the corporate/big business side as history has shown we should always believe billion dollar corporations.

What a bootlicker statement.

derek3h ago

@Notellin, of course you'll believe an embittered ex-employee with an axe to grind because it's evil Sony he's complaining about. You guys act like days gone was this huge success and somehow Sony hates easy money a sequel would have generated. The game was mid and so was the response to it. They're still supporting the developer who is making a new ip that could be great.

shinoff21831h ago

Days gone was fantastic. I bought day one but didn't get around to it for months. When I finally did I was pissed at myself for waiting so long lol

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 1h ago
P_Bomb9h ago

Well I don’t want 10 live service games, but they have no problem doing that lol. Ugh.

CrimsonWing699h ago(Edited 9h ago)

Oh great so we only get what the big wigs want… y’know, the people that really have their fingers on the pulse of what their consumers want. Faaaaantastic!

rippermcrip6h ago

Well consider they know the sales... they do know what the consumer wants.

It sold shit.

-Foxtrot1h ago(Edited 1h ago)

But if it’s true what this guy says it sold better than Death Stranding

Yet that got a sequel and Kojima aside out of them both DS didn’t really NEED a sequel compared to Days Gone which ended on such a cliff hanger twist.

Show all comments (52)
210°

Former Activision studio Toys for Bob partners with Xbox to publish its first game as an indie

Former Activision studio Toys for Bob partners with Xbox to publish its first game as an indie. This is something of a homecoming, as Microsoft owns Activision.

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engadget.com
Obscure_Observer22h ago

Very very early in development. Still, fantastic news!

Let´s GO!!!

Lightning7720h ago

I guess.

How come they didnt either let them go or sell Tango and others to another publisher? Not saying Ubisoft, EA would be any better. (Capcome would of treated them right )

At least it wouldn't be MS of all ppl destroying them.

MS really should let go Tango go like they did TFB here.

darthv7220h ago(Edited 20h ago)

one was under Bethesda (Tango) the other under Activision (TFB). Clearly each one handled the separations of their subordinates differently.

Obscure_Observer19h ago(Edited 19h ago)

"How come they didnt either let them go or sell Tango and others to another publisher? Not saying Ubisoft, EA would be any better. (Capcome would of treated them right )"

Perhaps because Zenimax and ABK handles such matters differently based on their own internal policies as "independent" publishers.

Whoever, chances are it´s simply because MS didn´t wanted Tango or Austin to be acquired by competitors and develop new bangers for them, giving MS a bad rep in a possible future. Which could also be the reason why they ensured an exclusive partnership with TFB and its new game, before anyone else.

Sad and disgusting. But it is what it is.

Lightning7716h ago(Edited 15h ago)

"Whoever, chances are it´s simply because MS didn´t wanted Tango or Austin to be acquired by competitors and develop new bangers for them, giving MS a bad rep in a possible future."

MS has a bad rep now because those studios are no more. I rather them sell the studio continue to make multiplatform releases, while MS continues to focus on whatever they're doing. If they didn't want Tango around they should separated from them or sell them to, like they did TFB.

It's inexcusable, they have options on how to handle studios they don't want anymore with killing jobs. Not just MS but the rest of the industry also.

Sad and disgusting sure how many will get shut down next year or this year even?

I don't trust MS decisions and motivations at this point. You have to admit they make one dumb move after another.

Obscure_Observer8h ago(Edited 8h ago)

"MS has a bad rep now because those studios are no more. I rather them sell the studio continue to make multiplatform releases, while MS continues to focus on whatever they're doing. If they didn't want Tango around they should separated from them or sell them to, like they did TFB."

Imo, MS separated from TFB because they didn´t had a game associated with Xbox yet, unlike Tango.

"I don't trust MS decisions and motivations at this point. You have to admit they make one dumb move after another."

Fair enough. It was indeed an epic dumb move from them to close Tango.

Still, all to be forgotten, like always have. This is not the first time a big publisher shuts down a beloved and/or successful studio out of nowhere and certainly won´t be the last. Do you remember Lionhead? Do you remember Evolution Studios? Yeah... both were beloved studios and yet, those companies kill those studios in q blink of an eye and got away with it.

anast5h ago(Edited 5h ago)

The studio boss made some money from this transaction. Once the game releases, the studio will get chopped up.

-Foxtrot22h ago

Manages to buy their freedom especially after all the shit Microsoft has been doing with its studios lately

...

Goes right back to them as partners.

Okaaaaaay...

darthv7220h ago

Id venture a guess that TFB working directly with MS was a better outcome than working through Activision to get to MS.

VersusDMC18h ago

From the article...

"Toys for Bob spun out as an indie back in February after Microsoft instituted sweeping layoffs that impacted 86 employees, which was more than half of the staff"

I doubt those 86 employees enjoyed the Microsoft experience over Activisions.

Inverno17h ago

MS shuts down studios because of lack of resources and then helps these guys by giving em resources. Also MS is what forced them to buy their freedom in the first place? What kind of logic 😂

Chevalier14h ago

The best thing is that the company that is worth $3 trillion and owns the company instead of Xbox lacks resources. How the hell does a company worth $3 trillion making a measly $70 billion purchase they 'can't' support. Lol

Sciurus_vulgaris20h ago(Edited 20h ago)

Xbox’s gaming division seems to still function as 3 semi-autonomous sub-divisions, Xbox Studios, Bethesda and ABK. The three main sub-divisions can seemingly shut down or build studios and set up partnerships independently. This would explain why Bethesda can recently shutdown studios, while ABK spins off one studio, while building a new one. Plus, Toys for Bob could be spun off by ABK, only to immediately re-partner with Microsoft.

Chevalier14h ago

That's absolutely 💯 BS. Any sane 'autonomous' company would NOT put their games on Gamepass day 1 like COD will lose probably billions.

Also they're all under Xbox game studios so any autonomy is an illusion.

PhillyDonJawn2h ago

No, I'm sure MS can and does step in when they want something done specifically but I'm also sure they let them also work independently

Elda14h ago

Either a kiddie game or something uninteresting.

Obscure_Observer8h ago

Don´t worry. You won´t be playing it anyway since their next game will possible be a next gen Xbox console game.

PhillyDonJawn2h ago

Right probably something like astrobot

romulus231h ago

Nah he said "uninteresting", lots of people are interested in Astro Bot.

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