Following recent reports that stated that Days Gone II was either postponed or canceled by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Jeff Ross has revealed what was in plans for the sequel of the open-world zombie game.
During a live stream with former God of War director, David Jaffe, Jeff Ross claims that due to a Non-Disclosure Agreement he can’t confirm or deny the current status of Days Gone II.
Jeff Ross affirms that Days Gone has sold more copies than every game the studio has ever made combined, so it’s successful in that way, and the community and player response. But the critics…yeah, that was Normandy Beach.”
Ross says that Sony Interactive Entertainment wasn’t happy with the profits generated by the zombie game, probably teasing that Days Gone II has been canceled.
Days Gone II could’ve been a “shared universe with co-op play”. He Ross explains that the model was originally planned for the original game, however, “it would’ve been a secondary mode if we’d have done it in the first one, or even in another one,” he said. “I wouldn’t have complicated the main narrative… because that’s really what we’re good at. That was the strength of the first title, so build on that and make it better.”
He added, “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.”
“Games are expensive, movies are expensive; in order to make more, the initial ones need to make money,” added Ross. “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. Even in the Schreier report where he talks about them tightening things up, they still trust their developers tremendously.”
Jeff Ross left Bend Studios back in December 2020, the developer avoided referring to the seemingly canceled sequel as the reason behind his decision, instead he affirms to have left because he “peaked” and was “probably not going to go any further.”
Ross has left PlayStation Studios and is now working at Warner Bros Interactive’s NetherRealm Studios, he is now working with the Mortal Kombat team.
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