Good things fail, even video games. Gravity Rush, Arkane Austin, the Sega Dreamcast, for perceived low sales and sub-standard execution respectively, or in the Dreamcast’s case a litany of issues including high competition and a difficulty to procure profit. No matter how good these games, studios, or consoles are, they’re destined to fail for one reason or another.
This is the reality Days Gone and its legion of fans are facing. Except, unlike the examples just given Days Gone sold well, brought fresh ideas to the open world genre, and – in developer Bend Studio – has a solid team behind it; a collective demonstrably capable of producing top-tier games, a team that made the game they wanted to make.
Now passed is Sony’s September State of Play, gone without a whiff of Deek’s motorbike exhaust fumes despite heavy rumours a Days Gone PS5 remaster is right around the corner. These rumours began innocuously, as they always do. Commenting on X, VGC host Jordan Middler responded to Jeff Grubb of the Game Mess Mornings podcast who was touting a game less exciting than Horizon Zero Dawn is slated for remaster, with an announcement coming during September’s State of Play. Middler’s response to Grubb suggested former Bend Studio creative director John Garvin would be irked by this summation, given how unimpressed he was that Deacon St. John’s image was used to sell copies of Astro Bot.
As it happens, Grubb may have been referring to other remasters – harsh, if so. Or he was fed dud information. Whatever the game behind his claim, it wasn’t related to Days Gone. We heard nothing: not a remaster, remake, enhanced edition, or – as has grown increasingly unlikely – a sequel.
Although, regarding sequels it’s well established by now that Days Gone 2 isn’t happening. Cast your mind back to before these State of Play rumours emerged back in June 2024. Bend Studio community manager Kevin McAllister publicly apologised to Days Gone’s fans as, according to him, they’d been “getting fed false hope and poor information by people looking for likes”, although he stopped short of mentioning any of the individuals by name. The upshot: nothing new is in the works for the series. A sequel isn’t forthcoming and for anyone to suggest otherwise is plainly being unfair on the fanbase who are anxious for a return joyride through verdant, zombie ravaged Oregon.
The question really is why have Sony distanced themselves so much from the game? Over 7 million sales and a legion of fans anticipating a follow-up – not to mention the game ending on a cliff-hanger – it seems non-sensical for Days Gone 2 not to become a reality. Yes, the game was dealt a poor critical reception upon release owing to a sleugh of bugs and glitches, but these have largely been resolved. Maybe, in this current climate, one in which Sony are still pursuing live-service opportunities, Days Gone 2 is merely shelved for now. Remember though, nothing official is being worked on. Bend Studio themselves are currently developing a AAA live-service open world game, but like Remedy and Alan Wake II, history tells us that sequels can come years after their predecessors. So, if a Days Gone sequel does ever emerge would an enhanced version of the original help or hinder?
Before we get into that it’s worth pointing out that a PS5 version of Days Gone already exists. One that targets up to 60 fps with dynamic 4K resolution. A PS5 Pro version, as is more likely than a remake or remaster at this stage, isn’t outside the realms of possibility. And it’d be more worthwhile than a simple remaster given the PS5 version already out there. However, an enhanced version that sits somewhere between a remaster and a remake could prove quite successful, even if it is a little fanciful at this point in time.
Horizon Zero Dawn’s upcoming remaster – lambasted at first but showing signs of acceptance – is doing more than bringing the seven-year-old game up to the same graphical fidelity as its sequel. Over ten hours of conversation has been re-recorded, motion capture has been improved, and character models and animations have been upgraded. Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster harbours numerous quality of life improvements, updated controls, and refined, more intelligent NPC AI alongside the usual licks of graphical paint. The Last of Us Part II Remastered adds a plethora of bonus content – some cut from the original game, others entirely new modes to try out.
This approach could be taken with Days Gone should this hypothetical enhanced edition ever come to fruition. There are numerous elements which, when improved, would move the game beyond a basic remaster to something more akin to the examples just given. Character interactions, for example, could be greatly expanded, and not just with tertiary characters like Boozer or Copeland but dialogue options for random camp-dwelling NPCs will boost immersion. The game’s weapon progression system leaves a lot to be desired, with build variety too narrow to promote a variety of playstyles. Heck, each camp could become more faction-like, with interactivity amongst themselves instead of just existing as standalone settlements.
Bend Studio game director Jeff Ross, speaking in 2021, mentioned co-operative play as an idea they had for Days Gone which was parked until presumably a sequel. More specifically, Ross states that they’d take the world’s “assets and systems and repurpose them for some sort of similarly themed multiplayer version of this universe.” He continues saying it “would be with guys like Deacon trying to survive, building up a clubhouse or a crew.” This would fit nicely into an enhanced-slash-remastered version. If there’s one way the game’s standout horde battles could be improved, it’d be via working together with others.
These a just a handful of ideas, but they speak to the scope of a game which – now all its technical kinks have been ironed out – has a proper foundation laid to build on worthy improvement. Should a suitably enhanced version of Days Gone appear then it’d be surprising if this didn’t sell well, especially if Sony opt to implement an upgrade path like we’ve seen with other remasters.
Critical reception played a big part in Days Gone’s downfall. Sony’s speculative issues with Bend Studio’s former creative director are meaningless now, if they even had any influence on Sony pulling the plug on further Day Gone content. Also, there is the much less publicised revelation that the decision to veer away from Days Gone 2 was made internally by the remaining devs at Bend Studio anyway. There’s evidently internal strife between Bend and Sony we’ll never be fully appraised of, but maybe failure was too strong a declaration at this feature’s outset. Days Gone has attained cult status. It hasn’t failed. And… bottom line: money talks, and Days Gone has made some.
Should by some miracle an enhanced remaster of Days Gone see the light of day then it’d no doubt sell like hot cakes. This, and perhaps only this, will pave the way for a Days Gone sequel, and maybe even a trilogy (or is that just wishful thinking?).
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
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