Bend Studio's Reported 2027 Co-Op Game Bets on a Fast Comeback
Bend Studio is planning to reveal its next game in 2027 and may release it later the same year, according to MP1st, citing anonymous sources familiar with the studio. The unannounced project is described as a third-person game with co-op elements, but not a live-service title. MP1st says development is much further along than many expected, raising the prospect of an announce-and-launch within 2027.
The report stresses two negatives: the game is not games-as-a-service, and it is not set in the Days Gone universe. That matters because Bend spent years on a live-service project codenamed Mirror Pond, cancelled in early 2025. Multiple outlets add that Sony previously turned down a Days Gone sequel pitch, so fans of Deacon St. John should not expect a continuation.
The aggressive schedule is the surprise. Wccftech notes that Bend only began the current project in June 2025, after its unannounced open-world live-service game was cancelled earlier in 2025. The Oregon studio also lost about 30 percent of its workforce around that time. A start in mid-2025 would leave less than two and a half years to a late-2027 launch, unusually short for a large console title.
Bend has not shipped a new game since Days Gone in 2019. Sony confirmed in January 2025 that it had cancelled two multiplayer projects at PlayStation Studios, including Bend's title. Layoffs affecting roughly 30 percent of Bend staff followed around June 2025, as reported by ComicBook, Time News and others. The studio's only release since then was Days Gone Remastered in April 2025, leaving a seven-year gap for new work.
If the timeline holds, a 2027 launch would help refill PlayStation's first-party slate. TheGamer and DualShockers frame the move away from live service as welcome news after Concord's failure and uncertainty around Fairgame$. A traditional third-person co-op shooter would play to Bend's strengths in shooting and open-world systems rather than chasing a service model.
Nothing is officially confirmed, and both the reveal timing and the 2027 launch window could shift. The next test is whether Sony shows gameplay at a 2027 showcase, clarifies whether it is a new IP or a revival such as Syphon Filter, and confirms platforms. Until then, the report should be treated as unofficial, with the scale of the game and its reuse of cancelled-project work still unclear.