Days Gone studio is building on "deep open-world systems" with a new game IP

The Days Gone studio is working on a new intellectual property that will build on the fundamentals it created for its post-apocalyptic open-world game, according to the head of PlayStation Studios.

PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst dropped the detail in an interview for the official PlayStation Podcast, and it will hopefully be encouraging for fans who are still mourning Bend Studio's reportedly shelved plans for a Days Gone sequel. In the interview, Hulst emphasizes that "new IP is the lifeblood of gaming" and something that PlayStation will always prioritize.

"And you know, Bend Studio is working on a very exciting new IP that they’re very, very passionate about," Hulst says. "They’re building on the deep open-world systems that they developed with Days Gone. So I’m really happy for Bend Studio."

Update: Bend Studio echoed Hulst's announcement in a post to its official Twitter account.

According to earlier reports, Bend Studio pitched a sequel idea for Days Gone but Sony ultimately ended up passing on the prospect due to the original game's extended development and relatively lukewarm critical response. Even if we truly have seen the last of the freakers and the bikers who wrangle them, at least Bend's next project will be another open-world project that will put some of its basic mechanics to further use.

Is it too soon to hope that the impressive freaker horde technology will find a fairly direct analog in whatever Bend's next project turns out to be? Even if there aren't zombies in it, it could work just as well for anything that moves around in large swarms like, um, ah… bees? Let's have an open-world game about bees, that sounds fun.

Elsewhere in the interview, Hulst also gives some more context for Sony's decision behind the God of War 2 delay; it's due in large part to the fact that recording performance capture for the game's characters has been especially difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, Horizon Forbidden West was further along in its development cycle and Sony's still aiming to release it in time for holiday 2021, though even that "isn't quite certain."

Hulst has confirmed that PlayStation Studios has more than 25 first-party games in development right now, and about half are new IP.