We have just received confirmation from Days Gone director James Ross that a Days Gone 2 was indeed pitched to Sony, including plans for a shared universe and co-op play that never came to fruition.
The reveal came from a live stream with God of War creator David Jaffe, where Ross spoke on topics that happened following his departure from Bend Studios and Bloomberg’s report last week about an unsuccessful Days Gone sequel pitched by Bend. Ross, who has now joined Mortal Kombat creators NetherRealm, admits to Jaffe that he was working on a Days Gone 2 pitch and that his departure from Bend “had nothing to do with the status of the sequel” and was due to personal reasons. He could not confirm details due to an NDA he signed his former employee; however, he heavily suggests that sales from the original game may not have been enough to strike up a sequel in Sony’s eyes.
When asked by Jaffe what Sony’s reasoning could have been for canning the sequel, Ross says:
“I don’t think it’s publicly confirmed what the status of [Days Gone 2] is. I don’t want to be the guy who’s the official source for whatever that is... Days Gone has sold more copies than every game the studio has ever made combined. So it’s successful in that way, and in the community and player response. But the critics… yeah, that was Normandy Beach.”
Ross later began discussing his plans for the sequel, which would have included “a shared universe with co-op play,” something fans desperately desired in the original game. The director said:
“We wanted co-op from the beginning [in Days Gone 1], but obviously you have to make concessions for what you’re not going to be able to do... But then take this world that you’ve built, and all these assets and systems, and repurpose them for some sort of similarly themed multiplayer version of this universe. So [it] would be with guys like Deacon trying to survive, building up a clubhouse or a crew. I think it would be fun to be in that world cooperatively and see what horde battles could be like.”
When asked whether these features would have been included in the sequel, he says, “It’s one of the things that we had in our pitch, yeah. It was the idea of a shared universe with co-op play.” Bloomberg mentions in the report that the cancellation was a part of Sony’s agenda to focus on larger, blockbuster games, which has come at the expense of “niche” teams in its first-party organization. Ross denied suggestions that Bend was being used as a support studio for Naughty Dog and that a sequel was “never the reality,” adding:
“Sony’s got to run a responsible business. So it’s OK for them to make decisions based on the anticipated return of investment, because that’s the money they need to fund the next game... For Sony, every era is about survival. They’ve never been cash-rich, so they’ve got to be smart. I think fans should understand that before they really go off.”
Ross finishes by sending a bit of praise towards Sony, saying:
“We always assume that places like EA and Activision are letting spreadsheets drive the decisions and that’s never been the case at Sony in my experience,” he said. “We’re all smart and we understand that we have to create something commercial, but they’re not jamming that down our throat... Games are expensive, movies are expensive… in order to make more, the initial ones need to make money. I do think that the more you overthink something, the more you’re destined to doom it and that’s why I like the loose format at Sony.”
Although fans will sadly never receive a Days Gone 2 or the potential co-op and shared universe, they can rest assured that the game's director had big plans for them.