Jeff Ross, former director of Days Gone, has taken direct aim at local management

Yesterday, we learned that Ghost of Tsushima celebrated the new year with a remarkable sales figure. Specifically, 8 million copies sold worldwide, reaffirming its status as one of the great PlayStation exclusives. A status that, sadly, was never widely attributed to other titles such as Days Gone.

Rarely has the open-world action game been equated with Sony’s own big names in the industry, and that’s something that has Jeff Ross, the game’s director and former Bend Studio member, extremely upset. Ross picked up on the Ghost of Tsushima news and mentioned that Days Gone had sold more than nine million copies, having sold eight when he left the team and managed to sell one more on Steam.

This is certainly remarkable, as the commercial success of this game has never been matched by a similar critical reaction. And not just from the press or gamers, as Ross himself points to the studio’s local management as the culprit, as they always made them perceive Days Gone as a “disappointment”.

Congratulations 🥂🎉 Always thought it was an ambitious and impressive title. The HORDES! It was a real privilege to be there on Launch Day. Will not forget. 💪🏽💙 pic.twitter.com/kt3EnlhsJb

— shawn layden (@ShawnLayden) January 6, 2022

“At the time I left Sony, Days Gone had been out for a year and a half (and a month), and sold over 8 million copies. It’s since gone on to sell more and then a million+ on Steam. Local studio management always made us feel like it was a big disappointment,” he said in a message posted on his official Twitter account.

Speaking of the tweet, former PlayStation exec Shawn Layden congratulated Ross on the game, saying he always thought it was an ambitious and impressive title. Ross himself clarified to a user shortly afterwards that Layden was a big supporter of the team’s work and that he was not responsible for the franchise abandoning a future sequel.

Jeff Ross mentioned a few months ago that he had proposed a sequel to Days Gone to Sony, with plans that included co-op features and a shared universe based on the first game. However, Bend Studio is going down a different path, working on a new open-world IP for PlayStation, so the story of Deacon St. John seems to have come to an end. If you are interested in our Days Gone test, you can find it here.

Source: elotrolado