Sony Bend’s mystery new project is set to be the biggest the studio has ever produced, according to Shuhei Yoshida, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS).
Speaking on the PS I Love You XOXO podcast, Yoshida-san wouldn’t be drawn into revealing anything concrete on the as yet-unannounced title, although made it clear it’s going to be a significant release when it finally sees the light of day.
"We haven’t announced anything about what [Sony Bend] is working on, but it’s true that [the developer’s] last game was Uncharted: Golden Abyss," he said. "So, what they are working on: I just said at the [EGX 2015] Q&A that it’s awesome. But I can also say that it’s big – the biggest Sony Bend game ever."
Rumors pertaining to Sony Bend’s new game have been doing the rounds for a couple of years now. One popular theory is that the studio is working on an open-world title set within the horror genre, although nothing official has been confirmed as of yet. Considering Uncharted: Golden Abyss was released in 2012, the studio has presumably been working on the new game for quite some time now, so hopefully a reveal is imminent.
So, when can we expect to sees it? Sony’s not saying right now, but there’s a couple of possible candidates. First up is Paris Games Week, which Sony is using as its main showcase for Europe after eschewing its usual ritual of hosting a press conference at Gamescom in August. Failing that, there’s also the PlayStation Experience, which would be an ideal opportunity to unveil Bend’s new title; PSX has previously hosted some massive reveals, including the Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End debut gameplay video last year.
Earlier this year, it emerged that Sony Bend was working on a PlayStation Vita entry in the inFAMOUS series, although this was later canceled. The company has been on a hiring spree as of late however, and it is reported the developer’s new game will utilise the Unreal Engine. We’ll be sure to keep you posted on any further developments as we get them.
Sony Bend started out life as Eidetic back in 1994 before being snapped up by Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) in 2000, the same year that PlayStation 2 was released. The developer made a name for itself working on the stealth-action series, Syphon Filter, which was released on numerous platforms such as PSOne, PS2 and PSP. In addition, it also developed Resistance Retribution for PSP in 2009, a portable entry in the popular first-person shooter series by Insomniac Games.