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[DeepEnigma]

While the woke stuff is BS (that screen with the reviewers ganging up on what they think is wrong with the game), don't think it really had an impact on the game's success. The brigade has tried to do the same with many other games and they do well still. I can remember the press going after Witcher 3 because it didn't have inclusiveness or because the succubi seemed to be black. They also tried to go after Cyberpunk for an objectification of trans people... The games still did well.

I waited a while to get Days Gone because I was waiting for it to come to PC. I tried it and found it slow. Found the transversal a bit annoying (having to worry about gas, etc). Ended up dropping it to favour other games. Apparently the game gets better further along and I will come back to it at some point.

IMO the game did as well as deserved based on how it plays. I don't think what those reviewers think really have an impact on sales.

I can tell people at the studio were really passionate. It's the second high profile dev that kind of cries because the game didn't do as well as expected, right?

Funny part is, the reviews had an opposite impact on sales. It sold over 9 million for a new IP with issues. It was a success on every metric in that regards, so much so, Sony said they would greenlight a sequel.

Now the shift in company culture and the like in which the developer in the OP was referring to on the other hand, thus them opting to push out the original designers and not work on a usually guaranteed successful sequel (statistically speaking), especially after selling over 9 million with positive user reviews prior...

 

[MScarpa]

One of my favorite games of last gen! Sad there won't be a sequel.

 

[A.Romero]

Funny part is, the reviews had an opposite impact on sales. It sold over 9 million for a new IP with issues. It was a success on every metric in that regards, so much so, Sony said they would greenlight a sequel.

Now the shift in company culture and the like in which the developer in the OP was referring to on the other hand, thus them opting to push out the original designers and not work on a usually guaranteed successful sequel (statistically speaking), especially after selling over 9 million with positive user reviews prior...

I see. For some reason I can't see the original tweet and thought the discussion was around the game not doing well because of woke pressure.

Sony has been plagued by people with that mentality for a while...

 

[DeepEnigma]

I see. For some reason I can't see the original tweet and thought the discussion was around the game not doing well because of woke pressure.

Sony has been plagued by people with that mentality for a while...

His original tweet was based on the fact that the game design never changed, only the coders putting out buggy software, so if the reviews were focused on their selective bugs in reviews (let's be honest reviewers are very selective with which games plagued by bugs gets even mentioned in them), just to mask their "straight white gruff biker male talking about his wife's ass" ... then why are the main sequel proponent designers that designed the successful game plagued by bugs let go, and not the coders ... if bugs were the "real excuse." is how I interpreted it.

Then someone in the studio puts out the typical cult like tweet about being "proud of their culture" and that it's a "new era for them" there, etc., on the same day. The typical scripted schlock.

 

[MacReady13]

lol @ that Greggy tweet. What a bitch.

If no one could see how much of a disingenuous cunt he was after he threw his "best friend" Colin Moriarty under the bus and proceeded to drive over him AND then completely forget about him cause of Colin's different beliefs, then people must be fucking blind.

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

Days Gone reception @ the creative director:

 

[AtomicStarving]

I liked Days Gone. There`s some aspects I didn`t like. The world is not alive enough and those side quests fucking sucks. But the game was solid. I played at launch and didn't have any major bugs.

 

[FBeeEye]

He's right. The protagonist should have been an angry lesbian. The game had too much testosterone for today's matriarchal society.

 

[proandrad]

Anyone else see the irony of people complaining about “woke” reviewers pushing their opinions, pushing their opinions that Days Gone isn’t mediocre?

 

[Beechos]

Game was excellent. It was like a survival lite game before survival games became all the rage, maybe thats why people hated it back then. This wouldve prob been the perfect walking dead video game.

The big swarms of zombies always shown was def for pr/hype purposes. There are acutally a lot of big swarms in the game. Theres nest all over where these swarms reside and one of the big sidequests is to eliminate all these nests.
For those who say the swarms were sparse prob didnt play too far into the game.

 

[SafeOrAlone]

I can't comment because I didn't play it, but I'm betting there were a couple reviews that were like "oh man, another generic white guy as the protagonist" lol.
Allow me to apologize on behalf of all of us generic white guys. We do love our videogame protagonists, From Solid Snake to Nathan Drake.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

He saw what his peers were saying and felt pressured. This guy is as spineless of a snail trail pussy as they come.

Calling him a pussy isn't even an insult, it's like awarding him the Medal of Honor. He is more like gum, embedded into texturous concrete.

 

[adamsapple]

 

[YeulEmeralda]

Right or maybe it was just another bland open world game with tiresome zombies? It certainly didn't get any points for originality.

But liberal space Jew lizards sounds cooler.

 

[TexMex]

Pathetic.

 

[Wildebeest]

How many game critics and other game industry types come from working class families? What right do they have to lord it over everyone else when it comes to "representation"?

 

[Barakov]

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Looks like Sony Bend is winning the fight 2 to 1. Bend Twitter account and Bend Community Manager vs. John Garvin.

 

[SlimySnake]

yeah they were so proud of it that they didnt bother greenlighting a sequel to a game that sold millions and fired the creative directors two days after launch.

Sure.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Just say nothing. This wasn't even that big of a drama.

Not like anything R* goes through, and they're good at saying nothing. Too good, sadly.

 

[Tripolygon]

yeah they were so proud of it that they didnt bother greenlighting a sequel to a game that sold millions and fired the creative directors two days after launch.

Sure.

It was Jeff Ross the studio director at the time that didn't want to do Days Gone 2.

Sony is proud of the IP, they are working on a Days Gone movie.

 

[FunkMiller]

It was just a pretty run of the mill open world zombie game, with a dull protagonist. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

From the link adamapple put in his OP post.

John Garvin tweeted this theory in response to a fan asking why he thought the post-apocalyptic PS4 biker game didn’t get more praise when it was first released in 2019.

I didnt see the original tweets so I dont know if he was answering a tweet or if the fan asked him in a private message or email, but it doesn't really matter how it started.

The key thing is the results. And that's Garvin responding publicly and Sony/Bend needing to counter him today with their own tweets.

That's video game people for ya. Talk, talk, talk. No filter.

 

[-Zelda-]

To be fair, there are a whole lot of those woke reviewers that will crucify you if you aren't Naughty Dog and even that isn't 100 percent true because didnt Anita Sarkeesian have a problem with TLOU part 2 or some other game of his once? Ignoring that, I will give him the benefit of the doubt because at least he did lead off with the fact that the game had bugs and glitches as well, which really is on him and his team.


Edit: Trying to find it, but not having any luck. All I remember is that there was an article online where despite him being a fan of hers, she still raked him over the coals over something. Maybe someone smarter than me whose google fu is better than mine has it somewhere.

EDIT 2: Still nothing, so I am done. I did find this though, which I did not know before now and sadly makes far too much sense:

"Druckmann has a dent in his skull from being accidentally struck in the head with a golf club by a friend at the age of 16, which required 30 stitches.[130]"

 

[Trazyn the Infinite]

What a bunch of shitstains.

 

[yurinka]

yeah they were so proud of it that they didnt bother greenlighting a sequel to a game that sold millions and fired the creative directors two days after launch.

Sure.

Sony funded game updates, a PC port and a movie. So SIE/PS Studios are ok with the game and never rejected a Days Gone sequel.

According to both co-directors it was the studio manager at Bend who did block the Days Gone 2 pitch from being sent to PS Studios/SIE, who never received such pitch. The only pitch that SIE/PS Studios got from Bend after Days Gone 1 was a new IP and they greenlighted it.

They half fired a codirector, the other one quitted.

 

[EddieVanHelgen]

I think it flopped because it just wasn't that special, BUT some reviewers did make an issue out of the protagonist's race/colour so he does have a point unfortunately.

 

[SaintALia]

It was like a survival lite game before survival games became all the rage,

Super late, but just wanted to say, this is wayyy off. Day's Gone hopped on the survival train pretty late I'd say. By the time it did it, I'd say survival games were being run into the ground on PC, and even consoles had their fair share. Something like Rust, Day Z, Seven Days to Die released like 6 years before it, The Forest at 5, and it had been a seemingly neverending supply of them. I remember trying out a bunch of them back in the day. So many broken POS games, but some had some cool ideas or mechanics.

Days Gone never intrigued me as an open world game. It had it's gimmick with it's mass of zombies thing, but didn't seem like it brought anything to the genre apart from a large budget and not being a completely broken POS at launch and taking years to fix to become a somewhat competent-great game eventually.

I'm not sure where his 'woke' criticism is coming from, but I do remember the protagonist being fairly ho-hum and typical.

 

[NickFire]

I think it flopped because it just wasn't that special, BUT some reviewers did make an issue out of the protagonist's race/colour so he does have a point unfortunately.

Flopped is probably too strong of word since it sold well. But I agree with your sentiments. Both things can be true (not a perfect game, but also unfairly (IMO) criticized for non-gaming reasons).

 

[belmarduk]

It's everyone's fault but mine..

 

[SlimySnake]

It was Jeff Ross the studio director at the time that didn't want to do Days Gone 2.

Sony is proud of the IP, they are working on a Days Gone movie.

WHat? no. Jeff Ross worked for six months on a Days Gone 2 pitch that was rejected by the studio heads.

 

[Tripolygon]

WHat? no. Jeff Ross worked for six months on a Days Gone 2 pitch that was rejected by the studio heads.

That was Garvin that worked on it iirc?

 

[peronmls]

They could have said “we would love to make a sequel one day.” That would have shut him down but it just sounds like they have too much pride in something that failed? I really don’t think they care. They are playing ignorance.

 

[SlimySnake]

That was Garvin that worked on it iirc?

Nope. Garvin was fired 2 days after launch.

The devs didnt like him. He alluded to it in interviews with Jaffe and Jason pointed out that it was because he wrote every line in the game and didnt want woke devs messing with his vision. Garvin said that he had burned all his bridges before the game came out and after the game bombed critically, he was told to pack up his bags and he was gone by day 2. This is a guy who has been the lead creative writer over at Bend for the last 20 years. Shown the door because he lost the support of his own studio.

Jeff stuck around until his DG2 pitch which was rejected by Studio Heads, not Sony. But Sony didnt greenlight DG2 immediately either. Instead Jeff had to pitch DG2 after working on a new concept for six months. Dont remember exactly when he quit, but Bend wasted another year and a half after that on a UNcharted spinoff hiring TV writers to lead the project who eventually left because of constant ND meddling.

Jeff Ross didnt blame Sony, but Sony has the power to veto studio heads. Sony didnt want DG2 either.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Nope. Garvin was fired 2 days after launch.

The devs didnt like him. He alluded to it in interviews with Jaffe and Jason pointed out that it was because he wrote every line in the game and didnt want woke devs messing with his vision. Garvin said that he had burned all his bridges before the game came out and after the game bombed critically, he was told to pack up his bags and he was gone by day 2. This is a guy who has been the lead creative writer over at Bend for the last 20 years. Shown the door because he lost the support of his own studio.

Jeff stuck around until his DG2 pitch which was rejected by Studio Heads, not Sony. But Sony didnt greenlight DG2 immediately either. Instead Jeff had to pitch DG2 after working on a new concept for six months. Dont remember exactly when he quit, but Bend wasted another year and a half after that on a UNcharted spinoff hiring TV writers to lead the project who eventually left because of constant ND meddling.

Jeff Ross didnt blame Sony, but Sony has the power to veto studio heads. Sony didnt want DG2 either.

More like, Sony took the approach of getting rid of one guy, versus the "culture" that goes on in west coast studios that would cause even greater issues. If the studio wanted DG2, we would have a trailer by now and Sony would be happy to greenlight it.

 

[RareJordan]

I love the game, but there’s no way it was gonna get praised by game critics, because it has dialogue like this. Assuming the reviewers even made it far enough to hear all of Copelands broadcasts. It definitely goes against the approved narrative.

 

[DeepEnigma]

I love the game, but there’s no way it was gonna get praised by game critics, because it has dialogue like this. Assuming the reviewers even made it far enough to hear all of Copelands broadcasts. It definitely goes against the approved narrative.

Yes, but then what does Deacon say after every time Copeland says stuff on his radio? What he says after each instance goes against the very 1%er biker stereotype and he comes off as very progressive in a dog eat dog survival of the fittest word. Something that a 1%er IRL would not do in a post apoc world (They would all be mini and rival Copelands, actually worse with more lawlessness than Copeland had).

That's why the critics were totally clueless about this game when most of the slacktivist ones never even played past 30% of it to know this. Then again, most let things go through one ear and out the other with the hardened cognitive dissonance.

 

[DragoonWalker]

So fucking corporate it could be randomly generated by an AI.

I'll take a crass bitter human outburst from an unfiltered man and his un-PC political views any day.

 

[Trazyn the Infinite]

Nope. Garvin was fired 2 days after launch.

The devs didnt like him. He alluded to it in interviews with Jaffe and Jason pointed out that it was because he wrote every line in the game and didnt want woke devs messing with his vision. Garvin said that he had burned all his bridges before the game came out and after the game bombed critically, he was told to pack up his bags and he was gone by day 2. This is a guy who has been the lead creative writer over at Bend for the last 20 years. Shown the door because he lost the support of his own studio.

Jeff stuck around until his DG2 pitch which was rejected by Studio Heads, not Sony. But Sony didnt greenlight DG2 immediately either. Instead Jeff had to pitch DG2 after working on a new concept for six months. Dont remember exactly when he quit, but Bend wasted another year and a half after that on a UNcharted spinoff hiring TV writers to lead the project who eventually left because of constant ND meddling.

Jeff Ross didnt blame Sony, but Sony has the power to veto studio heads. Sony didnt want DG2 either.

Sounds like a stand-up guy if he was fighting against shitty slacktivists. Further reason to consider Bend a dead studio and not worth the time of day, like modern-day ND.

 

[SlimySnake]

Sounds like a stand-up guy if he was fighting against shitty slacktivists. Further reason to consider Bend a dead studio and not worth the time of day, like modern-day ND.

the proof is in the pudding. its been almost 4 years since he left and they have managed to produce a single logo. Thats it. that was their big E3 reveal last year. a new logo.

 

[Clear]

The devs didnt like him.

Let's be realistic, far more likely a certain faction within studio management didn't like him.

There's always a battle for creative control and project ownership, could happen for any number of reasons. But just pinning it on "the devs" is far too generalized as getting rid of a senior staff member without some kind of obvious leverage (like a scandal), is something only a very select number of people at a studio can arrange.

 

[Secret of Evolution]

I played it due to Moriarty always hyping it up. The only interesting part was the big hordes you fought, and that was really only endgame shit. The rest was a mediocre base that, yes, they could’ve built upon had a sequel been greenlit. But I also played before all the bugs. Without the bugs I could see the game being a 7/10, with bugs an easy 6 at best.

 

[DeepEnigma]

the proof is in the pudding. its been almost 4 years since he left and they have managed to produce a single logo. Thats it. that was their big E3 reveal last year. a new logo.

Maybe they should have not pushed out one of their main designers who has a PhD to boot.

If they are working on a rumored GaaS game, and it's cringey super colors of "modern audiences" like every other failed project next to Bleed Edge, I'm done with them.

 

[Trazyn the Infinite]

the proof is in the pudding. its been almost 4 years since he left and they have managed to produce a single logo. Thats it. that was their big E3 reveal last year. a new logo.

The sad thing is that people are trying to "defend" Bend and discredit this guy. Absolutely bonkers backwards world we live in.

 

[semiconscious]

Flopped is probably too strong of word since it sold well. But I agree with your sentiments. Both things can be true (not a perfect game, but also unfairly (IMO) criticized for non-gaming reasons).

this. started a new game+ replay yesterday, & it's only confirmed my feelings that this was definitely the case...

 

[Rhazkul]

Okay, I’ll play the game now.

You are joking, but anyone in the industry who dares to criticize the woke cult is deserving respect and financial support. Because it will be only a matter of time until people like him get canceled.

 

[KWAB]

the proof is in the pudding. its been almost 4 years since he left and they have managed to produce a single logo. Thats it. that was their big E3 reveal last year. a new logo.

This has to be one of the dumbest messages I've ever read on a message board. Don't you think something happened over the last years that could have slowed things down?

 

[EDMIX]

The sad thing is that people are trying to "defend" Bend and discredit this guy. Absolutely bonkers backwards world we live in.

Well...I think they have a sound point.

I bought the game day 1 and support lots of new IP, but this game had legit issues. Its a good game, its a solid 7, but its issues are real and even the reviewers have questionable reasons for giving theirs scores doesn't magically mean the game had zero issues and is some revolunary marvel.

You can have someone make a review talking about white zombies lol, you can also have 99% of everything else they say be true, sound and supported by those that don't even agree with the weird "white zombie" comment that one reviewer made lol So I feel he is trying to make it sound like THAT ALONE is why this game is viewed that way and I just don't buy that.

Its a repetitive game and slows to a crawl to the point where I found myself telling others to really "hang in there" that it does get a bit better, but one shouldn't have to suffer thru many boring parts to get to the "good part" of a game with no issues. I think I only disregarding some issues as I get its a new IP and their first big AAA game on console in generations.

I think Sony Bend is correct to speak against what this dude is saying ,they have things internally that must be corrected for Days Gone 2 to make sense if they wish to work on that after that new IP comes out.

the proof is in the pudding. its been almost 4 years since he left and they have managed to produce a single logo. Thats it. that was their big E3 reveal last year. a new logo.

Thats not really proof of anything.

Sony going forward has been only revealing games closer to release and what ever they are working on, we probably won't hear about it until after Spider Man 2 comes out and other big AAA games as it sounds like Sony only wants to reveal when they are done releasing a big game.

I don't even know why anyone would assume seeing a new logo means "thats it" as if nothing else is happening as that is just a odd assumption.

Did you not know they where working on a new IP currently?

PlayStation's Bend Studio Still Working On New IP, Introduces New Logo

Bend's new IP builds on Days Gone's open world.

www.gameinformer.com

So I like the game, but it has some serious issues with pacing, repetitive dated gameplay and the hoard is the only big thing the game does differently.

I'd love all of that addressed with DG2 after that new IP, like camping, hunting, ability to use other vehicles, more indoors etc They can do more and the 6s and 7s the game got was just.

(even if some of those that gave reviews exaggerated some shit lol) that doesn't mean the game was without fault.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Nah. It just wasnt a great game. Probably the only 1st party game I couldnt finish.
The combat, especially the melee was awful and polish of the overall game wasn’t on par with other Playstation studios.

 

[Max_Po]

I think he is spot on.

and quiet honestly, the game did have a lot of bugs at launch. It was a major ball drop in regards to quality from a SONY first party release.

The dialogue did not bother me, it is one of my favorite games on PS5 with 60 fps patch.