The game director of Days Gone, Jeff Ross, has added to the feeling of disappointment in response to the PlayStation Showcase by suggesting a follow-up to the PS4 title might have been out last month “if we’d simply stuck to our guns.”
Now that the platform owner has rejected its ambitions for a Days Gone 2, Sony Bend is undoubtedly developing a new IP.
“I get a little bummed out from these PlayStation Showcase shows because they only remind me we could of had Days Gone 2 out a month ago if we’d have just stuck to our guns,” the tweet reads.
https://twitter.com/JakeRocket/status/1661527144676364290?s=20
If so, a Days Gone sequel would’ve had a production cycle of almost 4 years, with the first game coming out in April of 2019.
Therefore, you would have to assume that it’d be a sequel that was primarily founded on the principles of Days Gone but with some significant gameplay enhancements.
For instance, Days Gone 2 has been referred to by Jeff Ross in the past as the “definitive version” of the game, with improved animal AI and being able to swim.
During an interview last year, he stated that “I would add more systems. Systems are very simple. And if they’re simple, they can be elegant and very rich for the player. I knew adding one or two more layers to the systemic elements of it would have been something that we could have wrapped our heads around, it would have led to a ton of richness for the players and a ton of unique open-world moments and responses that we haven’t seen before. Let’s sink our teeth into this and do something even more epic.”
Given that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Helldivers 2 are now scheduled for release within the next 6 months, releasing Days Gone 2 sometime this year would have positively impacted Sony’s plans for 2023.
Horizon Call of the Mountain for PSVR2 is the company’s sole original title to date.