Days Gone Controversy Caused By False Sale Stats

After a recent controversy regarding Days Gone and its sales numbers, it appears that statistics reported by the game’s director may have been inaccurate. Bend Studio’s open-world action game casts players as Deacon St. John, a motorcycle-riding drifter who must survive the zombie apocalypse by fighting his way across the monster-ridden state of Oregon. Days Gone topped the Steam charts upon its 2021 PC launch, after a PlayStation-exclusive release in 2019, but a potential sequel was still rejected by Sony.

Days Gone launched to lukewarm reception, with criticism aimed at the title’s story and mission design, but Bend Studio has remained defensive of the apocalyptic biker adventure. A sequel was reportedly pitched to Sony after launch, but mixed critical reception and disappointing sales led PlayStation management to reject the sequel. It has since been confirmed that Bend Studio is working on a new project, but many of Days Gone’s developers are still frustrated by the negative perception of the zombie shooter. Director Jeff Ross recently revealed that Days Gone’s sales equalled Ghost of Tsushima, the beloved PlayStation-exclusive samurai epic from Sucker Punch Productions, and yet Bend Studio’s game was still called “disappointing” by management.

Following up Jeff Ross’ statement about Days Gone’s sales, Push Square has revealed that the director’s statistics were not entirely accurate. Ross claimed that Days Gone had sold 8 million copies on PlayStation 4, the same number recently hit by Ghost of Tsushima, and that PC sales had likely bumped the game up to at least 10 million total sales. However, Ross gleaned these numbers from Gamestat, a now-defunct website that tracks Trophy data to estimate a rough number of gamers who played a title. This player count also includes rentals, used copies and PlayStation Plus subscribers who played the game for free, meaning actual sales of Days Gone likely hit less than 8 million copies.

Despite some bitterness surrounding the rejection of Days Gone 2, Bend Studio is hard at work on a brand-new game. PlayStation head Hermen Hulst recently teased the Days Gone studio’s exciting project, although little is actually known about the upcoming game. Previous statements from Hulst suggest that the new game will be an open-world experience, and job listings hint that a multiplayer component will also be included. With the rejection of Days Gone 2 the game will likely be a wholly original new property, but Bend Studio could likely incorporate concepts and mechanics intended for the zombie survival sequel.

While Days Gone had an undoubtedly successful release, particularly on PC, director Jeff Ross’ sales figures were incorrect. The game likely failed to reach Sony’s expectations for a first-party exclusive, and so Days Gone 2 will unfortunately never see the light of day. While the situation is no doubt frustrating for Bend Studio, the developer seems to have a promising new project currently in the works.

Days Gone is available on PlayStation 4 and PC.

Source: Push Square

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