Open-World Resistance Game Pitched By Days Gone Dev, Rejected By Sony

After its pitch for a Days Gone sequel failed to receive the green light, SIE Bend Studio proposed an open-world Resistance game that Sony also rejected. Originally released on PS4 in Spring 2019, Days Gone reentered the spotlight last year when reports confirmed a follow-up entry would not see the light of day. The crew at Bend Studio pitched sequel ideas to Sony, one of which included cooperative gameplay, yet the publisher bore no interest in funding another adventure through the Freaker-infested Pacific Northwest.

At present, Bend Studio is hard at work on a brand-new IP, an unknown project said to borrow heavily from the open-world systems on display in Days Gone. Fans of the post-apocalyptic title remain hopeful for an eventual sequel, though, and recent news has many scratching their heads as to why Sony ultimately refused to give the go-ahead. Such discussion arose out of news that Ghost of Tsushima moved eight million units worldwide; according to former Bend Studio developer Jeff Ross, Days Gone reached the same milestone in a similar time frame but “local management” made the team feel like it failed.

Amid the sales-related discourse, Days Gone Game Director Jeff Ross appeared on a stream with God of War creator David Jaffe. Ross divulged details about Bend Studio’s post-Days Gone dealings with Sony, namely that the publisher turned down more than just the sequel pitch. As relayed by VGC, Ross claimed he also proposed an open-world Resistance game, believing the Insomniac Games-created property would’ve excelled in a sandbox setting. Ross told Jaffe, “The pitch I was making was open-world Resistance… There were all of these open-world loops that we figured out… it almost wrote itself with Resistance. There were so many aspects of that property that lent itself to open-world gameplay.” Sony had no interest in this particular idea either, the Game Director added.

Interestingly, Sony shelved its Resistance IP after the PS Vita’s Burning Skies adventure effectively crashed and burned. That another team within the first-party family wanted to revive the property but received pushback will no doubt cut deep for a fair few PlayStation faithful.

Days Gone’s successes and failures seem to offer an intriguing look into what Sony perceives as a win. It’s not so cut and dry, however. The title remained in development for five-plus years, a process Jeff Ross himself called a “slog.” And while a team of ~130 developing games in Bend, Oregon isn’t as costly as the upkeep of a 240-person studio in, say, Santa Monica where Naughty Dog calls home, many other factors likely informed the Days Gone 2 rejection.

Days Gone is available to play on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, PS4, and PS5.

Source: David Jaffe/YouTube via VGC

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Brianna Reeves
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A Senior Writer on Screen Rant’s Game News team, Brianna Reeves graduated from Sam Houston Statue University in 2018 with a Master of Arts in English Literature. Brianna’s enthusiasm for games dates back to Mortal Kombat Trilogy on PlayStation 1, along with classics like MediEvil, Syphon Filter, and THPS2. However, Red Dead Redemption reinvigorated her love for the medium; hopefully, that passion reflects in the work she has contributed to Comic Book Resources, PlayStation LifeStyle, GVMERS, and Screen Rant.

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