A sequel to Days Gone seems to be ruled out in the eyes of Sony, but fans aren’t taking no for an answer. A petition for a Days Gone sequel has reached well over 30,000 signatures, proving there’s still plenty of demand for Bend Studio’s open-world zombie game. The petition continues to grow and gain momentum, attracting attention in the process.
Last week, a Bloomberg report was published online which outlined the state of PlayStation’s first-party development in a broad sense. The report revealed that Days Gone 2 was pitched, but rejected by Sony shortly after the first game’s release in 2019. It was reportedly denied by Sony as a result of the game’s lukewarm critical reception, despite its impressive sales figures. The publisher seems to be focused on curating a brand that consistently releases massive prestige titles and unfortunately, Days Gone does not meet the criteria. Still, fans are holding out hope.
About a week ago, a Change.org user by the name of Kanhai Raval started a petition to get Sony to make Days Gone 2. At the time of writing, it has racked up over 35,000 signatures in about a week and continues to grow. Game director Jeff Ross shared the petition on his Twitter page, noting its rapid growth. He also tagged PlayStation Studios head Herman Hulst, likely to show this passion to the executive. Ross also recently said “never say never” regarding a Days Gone sequel in an interview, but he no longer works at Bend Studio, so it’s out of his control.
Although its rapid growth is impressive, 30,000 people for a game that costs tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars to make probably won’t sway Sony. Even if it garners more support, sales weren’t really the issue with the first game; Sony is aware that a lot of people purchased Days Gone. Fan campaigns like Release the Snyder Cut have worked, but that was for a movie that was largely completed and could be worked on at home during a pandemic for a streaming release. Days Gone 2 would be a brand-new game that would take years and lots of money to make.
Fans will probably continue to show support via the upcoming PC port of Days Gone, but it seems likely that Sony will just try to wait this storm out. Whether or not that will work remains to be seen, as it could anger people even more thanks to a lack of overall communication. Bend Studio is reportedly working on a brand-new, unannounced IP now, but it allegedly only just began development within the last few months, so it will be a while before fans see it.
