If Sony put up funds (doesn't mention that in the article) they should be critical of the result if it doesn't fit their current vision for platform backed titles.
Look at it from another angle...would you (the royal you here....so...players in general) want a publisher to spend time marketing a game, create a bunch of tie stuff (like controllers, console bundles, etc) for a game that fails to live up to player expectations?
I mean sure...that NEVER happens in this industry, but maybe that was Sony's impression based on the VS and they didn't want this to be the first time a studio worked on a game in a silo and created a flop. It is a good thing they care about where their money is going.