Lack of online influenced Sony decision to cancel Eight Days

DEVELOP: In our exclusive interview with Shuhei Yoshida, the new head of Sony Worldwide Studios has admitted that Sony's increasing move towards online-supported games lead to the cancellation of its London Studios' Eight Days.

Two weeks ago it emerged that two London Studios big-budget PS3 games, The Getaway and Eight Days, had been cancelled.

Yoshida was appointed as Phil Harrison's replacement as head of Sony Worldwide Studios earlier this year.

[Silogon]

The end of gaming as we know it has begun. Sorry to say. Even if all it would've been was deathmatches and capture the flag, by god we need it so people can leave it alone and not play it.

This is probably the last year for gaming as we all know it. It is changing into something I simply don't like and slowly refuse to support.

[Vojkan]

OMG you are so annoying POG. First of single play isnt going anywhere. Uncharted, ratchet, and billion of other games say hi! With all due respect for London Studios (team soho) they only made mediocre games in the past. Getaway 1 was okey, but not GTA killer as it was hyped, Getaway 2 was JUNK. And rest of their games were mediocre(check gamerankings). So most likely Sony invested a lot of money, development was slow and not progressive, so smart move and only move was to cut production and put that money in something else. That simple. Its not like God of War 3 got cancled. Some unproven IP called 8 days is canceled, o big deal.

[DarK-SilV]

Look at the games ,alot of them have a short or a short crap single player and that’s not good for the people who don't play online

[juuken]

I actually wanted to see more of Eight Days.
Oh well.

[NO_PUDding]

Agreed as well.

I played a bit of multiplayer, and I like the PSN Store, but I want Single Player experiences! Uncharted was awesome, and GTA4 didn't do any better with it's crappy multiplayer. Resistance 2... is meh! Halo 3 is meh!

I want single player experiences. Hopefully Team ICO can still deliver that, if this bloody buffoon Yoshida doesn't mess that up.

[Milky]

Well it is probably because it cost a hell of alot to produce.

[anh_duong]

i think sony made a mistake in caning both these titles.. brutal economics but give me a hardcore game such as the getaway then casual games any day

[Vojkan]

Dude since when was Getaway big game? Like i said Getaway one was okey, Getaway 2 was a joke. look at reviews if you have not played games.
Sony was throwing money on those IPs for 3 years, most likely saw that it will take them 2 or 3 more years to deliver decent games and decided to cancel them. Why is everyone so panicking like God of War 3 or Uncharted 2 got canceled, Jesus....

[anh_duong]

you don't belong in n4g. you are everything that is bad about computer gaming. people with ps3 should play their ps3 and people with xbox should play their xbox. i wish this forum ban trolls.

your life is not to spend time trolling. you have many many billion brain cells. use at least one of them i.e. can we just discuss gaming from a gaming experience.

big game means big budget games where people actually spent time making the games good and up to scratch and not just ea carnival type shovelturd. i own a wii but i think 95% of the games for it are shockingly bad - i just hope the game industry never moves to the wii third party business model of less risk, high volume, low quality productions.

if i was a developer responsible for creating such heinous crimes to gaming such as ea carnival then i probably pay for someone to shoot me. what shame. i just hope the gaming industry never go the way of many third party wii developers.

this is one thing where both xbox and ps3 users should unite against: the way this industry is dumbing down gaming.

apologies for my rant but this casual gaming phenomena is starting to really pi$$ me off.

[kazuma]

lol vojkan is right since when is getaway a hardcore/big title? both were crappy, 1 had pretty awesome graphics for the time but had some of the slowest and worst controls i've ever tried. 2 was so bad i didn't even try it. getaway had potential but sony blew it, it's best they focus on something else. i couldn't care less about the new getaway but i was interested in eight days, seemed pretty cool by the concept stuff they showed

[PirateThom]

I don't care if it has no Online. Neither did Uncharted and it was awesome.

GIVE ME EIGHT DAYS, YOU ASS.

[BkaY]

on that bro.... i was waiting for any news about this game but "bam"...

game has been freakin canceled....

its just like someone has kicked me on the ballz pretty hard..

[yanikins111]

Agreed. 8 days looks sweet. Im more of a single player person myself. I always prefere solid(no pun intended) single player campaigns with some good length over multiplayer.

[stuntman_mike]

ive always been a single player gamer, i dont mind multiplayer now and again (mario kart on snes hasnt been beaten yet). i still think the single player game has loads more potential, im not a fan of these so called "casual games" either they are ok for a little while then get boring very quick.

i fear that a lot more games with potential may be cancelled due to online requirements which is a shame, sony europe should take a look at bioshock and mass effect where online wasnt that important but still managed to sell loads.

[LeShin]

I totally agree with all you guys above me. Bubbles for all of you! I like story driven single player games. It's what made me a gamer. Multiplayer just promotes repetition in my book (frag this player hundreds of times, rinse and repeat). The gaming industry needs both types of experiences. The are quite a few online only games I would not touch with a barge pole as they're bound to get boring as there would be no incentive but just to frag someone.

Screw that.....

[beavis4play]

give me "eight days" too!

[Official General]

This mentality of games developers making an online mode essential for new games is getting very silly now. I too much prefer story-driven single-player games. I personally find them more fun, interesting,immersive and much more challenging. It's like every new game made these days HAS to have an online mode! That's pure nonesense man. I'm not too heavily into online gaming and while I do think it's a very important feature for a game to have, (I love COd4 online) it does not have to be essential for every game to have an online mode.

[Quickstrike]

I was looking forward to 8 days. Canceling a game because it lacked online content is a really dumbass excuse to pull the plug on a game

[RiseOfMonster]

Whether this is good or bad news depends on the type of gamer; I just hope that the single player campaign is not gimped. But I have faith in Sony Santa Monica.

[PirateThom]

I'm urging everyone to spam the PS Blog with requests to bring Eight Days back to the foreground.

[BkaY]

thats wha im talkin about.... bro im with u....

i just dont understand why is this all about multiplayer thing.... im pure single player campaign kinda guy.... im pretty sure they gonna make it later on coz nobody gonna scrap their hard work like that...

but right cant say anything....

hang in there "eight days" we are with you..............

[Goldsack]

..need a mp-mod in those games.
look at gta4, when u end the story/game u cant do something like in scarface or older gta´s san andreas - no interaction with the city!!!

mgs, resident evil, god of war or silent hill...all from them dont need an online mod. the time u spend for a correct mp in those games is totally useless.

a strong single player game or a game which is only for MP..thats the best way for good games!!!

[kewlkat007]

I remember this game as part of "THAT" games list everytime there was one.

Sony get your sh^t together. The biggest storied/known exclusive for 2008 just came out. We used to hear about a lot of Delays now the words is "what do you think will be next to get Axed?".

The fact that you can't get online mode to function is pathetic. How do you put faith in Sony's online infrastructure? It's going on 2 years..sheesh

[Bill Gates]

Sh!t, Eight Days looked very promising too,...Oh well, back to MGS4. Exclusively on the PS3 Entertainment System, and no other system..lol

[BlazeXXL]

I loved the trailer back in 05, and was so happy when they said they were working on it. I'm a singleplayer gamer, I'd kill for a good story, and if that means that theres no room for multiplayer, so be it.

Since when is multiplayer so goddamn important? I mean, yeah it can be fun, but for me, it's just a tacked on feature, unless you have a game like warhawk ofcourse. I don't see why in f*cks name you would cancel a game because it doesn't have multiplayer options... It doesn't make any sense, and what's even more stupid is that reviewers deduct points because some games don't have multiplayer...

[kewlkat007]

there are plenty of games coming out and you'll here one fanboys say "oh it has no multi-player so it will suck"

I remember when Warhawk came out and it was ridiculed for the lack of single player mission.

Take a look at COD4, what have made that game so popular and have sold so well? Yes ONLINE.

Take a look at GTA all the sudden it has Online mode.

What about MGS4, ooops now there is an Online mode.

Look at the TOP sellers these days, what do they all have in common you guessed it ONLINE MODE MULTIPLAYER.

It goes back and fourth but Online seems to be where the money is at.

[BlazeXXL]

I'm just saying.. just because a game doesn't have multiplayer, it doesn't mean it won't be good. Metal gear would've been fine without MGO. GTA would've been fine without multiplayer. And guess what, if the multiplayer would've been scrapped on those 2 games, the singleplayer experience would've gotten a lot more attention, thus being even better, and perhaps longer. Cause that's what we're seeing these days, short singleplayer (usually 6-8 hours) and a multiplayer (most of the times crappy, and the usual modes deathmatch etc.)

Some games were made for multiplayer (COD), they have perfect gameplay for it. But some games just dont need it, and Eight Days is a prime example.

[kewlkat007]

is online multi-player. Yes it will enhance and add replay value to any game(no disputing that) but it seems to be at the COST of a Great Single Player Campaign.

You buy a game that's rated 8-10 hrs oh don't worry it has multi-player for replay value. CERTAIN games do not need Online, just focus on a great campaign.

Back in the days games were tough, oh a lot tougher than today, so 3-5 hrs ended up being large amounts of frustration, with only 3 continues and 5 lives. Games are easy these days so 8-10 seems like a breeze with unlimited saves, auto save points, and auto recovery.

[BlazeXXL]

that's exactly what's pissing me off lately :P I'm in a desperate need of a good singleplayer game. That's why it breaks my heart that Metal Gear Solid 4 was the last one in the Metal Gear franchise...

O well, soon I'll get to play Bioshock, and I hope Uncharted 2 gets announced this E3. Plus that new Silicon Knights game seems prett cool. Norse mythology sounds really awesome.

[Bathyj]

Please say this isn't so. Not everyone cares about online play. If fact the silent majority probably still prefer a good single player challenge. If I really wanted to compete against people I'd porbably rather go bowling or play tennis. I like videogames because I like what the dev have set out before me. I have no problem with games having Multiplayer but no at the expense of the SP experience. And let face it, SP always has a better story, setting. It deeper and more involving. MP is usually always deathmatch or capture the flag. Dont we have enough of that.

[NO_PUDding]

Agreed.

It's times liek these I really wish I coudl hack and find important peoples email addresses, to ask them what the heck they are thinking.

Sure mainstream might want some multiplayer, but the core market is also a huge seller. MGS4 didn't sell for the Online, GT5 Prologue didn't sell for the online, Uncharted didn't sell for the online, all have gone over platinum, without notable or any multiplayer!

[Baka-akaB]

It blows but i kinda understand them ...
Part of the prob with the ps3's first year was the lack of major multiplayer exclusives , with the exception of fps and racers , while on 360 i can only remember bioshock as a single player exclusives , or rpgs .

I agree with people that dont mind lack f multi in some genre and titles however let's not fool ourselves ... it's a major deal breaker for people buying games .

When they see something like uncharted , unless its mind blowing (like it actually is) , many would go like "meh i'll just rent"

[sinncross]

the preface of eight days lent itself to a single player experience, not online.

this guy is such a loser

[muddygamesite]

the game industry is heading towards HELL FIRE!. Must every game on this planet have online functionality? this is very sick. I'm so angry i think i might sell my PS3 because of this. Uncharted, amazing game had no online, but it didn't have any problems and didn't get cancelled. to me is seems like a lame excuse to cancel the games.

Very soon single player games wont exist anymore, and its sad.

[Syronicus]

Multiplayer games are great but we have a few of those already. Not every game released needs to be MP. Having a few great titles that are single player only work well into the gaming genre.

[heyheyhey]

that's ridiculous

there are so many games to play on the PS3 for online purposes, Eight Days wouldn't need to have online at all

just deliver what it was promising, a cinematic single-player experience

this sounds like porkies anyway, didn't they say they ran out of budget for the game?

[Baka-akaB]

sadly and quite frankly , yes they do . Even just to save face , and to not be cast aside as a potential rental or used only purchase .

[beavis4play]

every quality game that comes out and is a single-player,story driven game-i buy it. (ratchet, bioshock, uncharted, MGS4 for ex.)i never look to see if it has multi-player or not. multi-player is same game with diff. skins no matter which game you buy. halo, COD, gears, resistance.....for ex are all diff. games but at their heart; multi-player is basicly running around shooting other players. and i don't get how that doesn't get boring. and many people play online just to talk trash which gets old listening to the same tired lines from people who think they're cool

if what you say is true; then, it is indeed a very sad state of affairs for gaming.

[Daz]

I was looking forward to both of them. dame it.

Sony should jump in and help to pay for one of these games or are they to stuck in killzone2.

[DARK WITNESS]

i speak not as a fan of a console, but as a gamer, it is sad when a big budget high profile game gets stuck in the freezer just because it has no online mode.

multiplayer is good as a hook to keep some replay value in a game, but i won't buy a game if all it is is a multiplayer game.

there needs to be balance. someone needs to keep games true to what they should be.

Just because it does not have multiplayer, does not mean it can't be fun or more importantly, it does not mean people wont buy it, play it and enjoy it.

[BlackIceJoe]

I don't know what to think about this. But I will say some thing. Does every game need to have an online mode. What is so wrong with just good old fashion single player. I for one love single player games. So why cancel Eight Days and Getaway. If the reason is because the games did not have an online mode. I am saddened because not every games needs online. Plus without the online the team making the game could have made the single player better. Just look at Uncharted that game is a single player action adventure and has no online and is a great game. So why the need to cancel these games just because no online.

[beavis4play]

when did multi-player become the deciding factor as to whether a game is made or not? multi-player is a nice "extra" to have in a game; but i'd never call it a necessity.

give me a great story driven game any day.(like god of war, resistance, ratchet, uncharted, HS,KZ-yea the story is good, jak and daxter,bioshock, ME, zelda ,RE,MGS...etc...)game companies would like to see multi-player games because they are cheaper to make. but, they are also very similar: running around shooting other players. it's fun, but not very immersive. and i want more for my money than that.

[ApocalypseShadow]

although i believe that it was a poor decision to cancel 8 days,

i do believe that one of the titles should have been cancelled.and that it should have been the getaway.but work continued to finish 8 days and release it.but not getting any new info,i can't say if it was going to be a great game or not.moving on,they should be salvaging the products and adding the content to other games and services.

we have seen getaway content added to GT5 as a track.they could just added more areas to race in so that the money and time to produce those assets aren't wasted.

how about adding LONDON as a HOME area to shop and give people an idea what it's like to be there without being there?cut it in sections if need be.

adding people and cars from getaway to other future games.

adding 8 days vehicle damage to some future game.but "something." not just give up altogether.

but i believe this man thinks london studios is the leader in sony's push for casual gaming and want to expand on it.BUZZ,SINGSTAR,EYETOY,PSEYE, LBP(media molecule is being helped)etc.,have come from this studio.all have sold millions(or will with LBP) and the masses still want more from these products.and more like it.

so,even if I COULD CARELESS for online gaming over single player,it makes sense to push forward with getting HOME out the door sooner than later.connecting this new "ALWAYS CONNECTED SOCIETY" that loves cell phones,texting and sending each other content like pictures.

so if this guy can bring new things to the table like the pseye SCAN and CREATE games(see the video),XMB control with camera(see the video),remote play casual gaming through PS3 from anywhere using psp and maybe a VR headset to go with the rumored breakable controller.....

i could live with the decision to cancel what looked like 2, potentially good games.but it's funny how 360 gamers who now have ps3s care all of a sudden when they hated what sony was doing before just a year ago......kewlkat.........

apocalypse.........

[DJ]

But only in the genres that need it. I've had GTA IV since the day it came out, and still haven't touched multiplayer. Requiring online in every title is exactly what Microsoft does, and I don't know what the big deal is. It's not like the majority of the gaming community is screaming for Team Deathmatch in Final Fantasy or something.

[DARK WITNESS]

this may be the one and only time i will say this...

I agree.

[retro]

Eight Days looked great!

And how stupid is the decision about the (absence of an) Online Mode? Did Uncharted have that?

Keep it real, Sony! Not everybody wants casual online multiplayer games... many many people still enjoy a single player (WITHOUT ONLINE!) action/adventure!

[BrianC6234]

I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. Not everyone cares about online play. I like it but I don't mind games with no online features. There's room for both as far as I'm concerned. Sometimes online play ruins a great game because the developers puts all their time into the online side of the game the single player game ends up being mediocre.

[Baka-akaB]

Yet how many complains were made the very day a rumor stated the force Unleashed would receive a multiplayer on 360/ps3 ?

And how many stated then they no longer planned on buy it , despite the single player campaign being the sole interest of the game , and the wii's multiplayer looking like a crappy and bonus afterthought ?

That's the harsh reality of it , even if slapped with a crappy multi , games sells better nowadays with integrated online .

[Kyur4ThePain]

Gaming as we know it is going all to h3ll with this online-this-online-that cr@p.

[IWentBrokeForGaming]

I was looking forward to those titles. Sony released Uncharted and Heavenly Sword without online and without a problem so how is this an issue? don't like it!

[deeznuts]

Neither of those are First party titles. These two were. Don't fret, 2nd and 3rd party developers can still provide single player campaign games guys!

[CrazedFiend]

FIRE YOSHIDA!!!

[Dark General]

I myself prefer single player games but i do like this direction they are taking with actually really trying with online gaming. It's some good first steps in my opinion. Just don't touch Uncharted and make it have online. If anything include some online co-op for Uncharted 2. Also don't include online in God of War 3. Please.

[xtreampro]

Yoshida is an insult to SONY, he took away two big games for WHAT?!!!....no online..!!PPPFHH! who the HELL DOSE THIS guy think he is, just jumps in and takes away two big titles, i know that GetAway 2 weren't that good (although i've never played any of them before) but GetAway 3 got me interested in the game, it showed the technical capabilities of the PS3's CELL even 8-Days, what his done now is made the PS3 look like a joke or should i say SONY, and now all the XBUTTS can point and laugh at us,(I'll be surprised if this Yoshida guy cancels FF13, he'll be the biggest joke of the entire human race), Nice going! Yoshida,...YEAH! that was a real smooth move YOU PULLED Off!.......IDIOT, I'll laugh if this GUY ends up bieng like 'Shane Kim' LOL!

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

Eight days actually DEMANDS multiplayer. If I remember right, it was about 2 (I said TWO, multiplayer...) guys running over US states trying to accomplish something (it was a cop and a bandit, or whatever like this, not?).

Still I don't know if Sony would cancel those games just for it, if it was worth, they would just give them more time with a express order to encorporate multiplayer. Eight Days in special, I think they already have a multiplayer in place, but probably this and/or many other things don't meet Sony's expectation or business demands, so it was seen as money drowers.

And I really don't exactly know 'till now if those games was canned or delayed. Someone has made a official statement or something?

[DFresh]

Right now.
Yes it wouldn't be ready to release Eight Days now but once Home comes out this fall and they take time to work on it it's back on track to release Eight Days.

[t-0_ot-]

Ahahahahah to all the Ps3 fanboys that said it (as well as The Getaway) wouldn't get canned..

Too bad though, I was looking forward to Eight Days.

[thereapersson]

This whole "online gaming fixation" really sucks, because there are so many developers who can't focus on one or the other (SP & MP respectively) because they are worried their game will be criticized for lack of multiplayer options. Then they add in a half-baked online option and it doesn't matter because it's just a knock off of every other multiplayer mode in every other game before it. But because the game has online, in the eyes of many people it automatically makes it better, even if the ability to extend replay value is rather shallow due to the integrity of the features themselves.

I commend developers who have the balls to make a game the best it can be without worrying about pleasing both single player and multiplayer fans; developers such as insomniac games who made warhawk a multiplayer masterpiece (due to scrapping the single player), and Naughty Dog, for making Uncharted such a damn great adventure without a hint of shallow online bullcrap to be found.

I believe only when a game does both equally well can it be considered an excellent achievement (games such as Burnout: Paradise, and Metal Gear Solid 4 are good examples of equal integration). I just don't think that a game HAS to have multiplayer to be good; in many cases the multiplayer ends up being very underwhelming, just being in there for the sake of appeasing people and not for the actual title itself.

edit: Just to clarify, I love online games, but I really believe that unless the multiplayer modes have a ton of replay and fun factor (such as Halo's remarkable multiplayer features), I think that developers just shouldn't bother.