Bend Studio

Bend Studio is a developer.

Bend Studio Webpage, Facebook

Bend Studio is an American game development studio that has been owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment since 2000. The studio develops games for both home and portable consoles and is best known worldwide for the Syphon Filter series.

The history of Bend Studio

Prehistory

Bend Studio’s story began in 1993, when two Infocom founders, Marc Blank and Michael Berlyn, started a new company. The studio, named Blank, Berlyn and Co., initially focused on developing games and software for the Apple Newton. The team quickly decided to shift its focus to PC and console games, renaming the company Eidetic in the process.

A failed PlayStation debut…

The eight-person team went on to develop their first 3D title, Bubsy 3D, which launched on the PlayStation. Their inexperience with 3D graphics showed: the game got poor reviews and sales, being overshadowed by both Super Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot from Naughty Dog. However, a representative from Sony’s 989 Studios noticed the team and suggested they create a spy thriller called Syphon Filter. Sony picked Eidetic mainly because the team already had a graphics engine powerful enough to handle a game of that caliber.

…and the path to global fame

The development of Syphon Filter wasn’t smooth either - this time, the challenge was that Eidetic had never made an action game with stealth mechanics before. On top of that, the project came close to being canceled several times, but it was ultimately completed - thanks in large part to John Garvin, the writer and director, who joined the team during development and played a key role.

Syphon Filter launched on the PlayStation in February 1999, and both players and critics loved it - far surpassing the expectations of the developers and Sony. Within a year, it had sold over a million copies. The sequel hit the store shelves in March 2000 and proved to be a hit as well. That same year, Sony officially brought Eidetic on board, renaming the team Bend Studio and giving it a real boost.

In the years that followed, Bend Studio focused on developing the Syphon Filter series. In 2003, the final entry in the series for the original PlayStation, Syphon Filter 3, was released. Three years later, Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain launched on PlayStation 2. In 2006, Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror premiered, followed by its successor, Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow. Both of these titles were released on Sony's second home console as well as its handheld counterpart, the PlayStation Portable.

Blazing new trails

Over time, the studio started working an entirely new game. The project was a spin-off of the Resistance series, titled Retribution, and it launched on the PlayStation Portable in 2009. The game was praised by Sony, the Insomniac Games team overseeing the series, and, most importantly, the players themselves.

It later became clear that this would be the studio's final title developed for Sony’s original handheld console. Their next project, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, was developed alongside Naughty Dog for the PlayStation Vita and launched as a debut title for the handheld in late 2011. However, Bend Studio wasn’t done with the Uncharted franchise: a year later, Uncharted: Fight for Fortune was released - a card game with action-adventure elements that added a fresh twist to the series’ universe.

Return to the home consoles

Since the PlayStation Vita struggled in sales, Bend Studio was reassigned to develop a game for the much more successful PlayStation 4. Development of Days Gone, an open-world action game packed with zombies, started in 2015 and the game launched four years later, in 2019. While early reviews suggested that Days Gone wasn’t quite on par with most Sony Interactive Entertainment titles, it still managed a respectable average score from critics (71/100 on Metacritic) and earned an even stronger approval from players, averaging 82/100. Thanks to strong sales, Bend Studio’s team could finally breathe a sigh of relief. In October, the team revealed they were working on a new project - though at that point, its name remained a mystery. Meanwhile, the team kept supporting Days Gone, rolling out numerous updates that added fresh content.

In December 2020 it was announced that John Garvin (director and writer of Days Gone) and Jeff Ross (producer of Days Gone) would leave the studio. Curiously, Garvin revealed that he had been sidelined from the studio's work since the game's release and had been focusing on personal projects. In February 2021, it was announced that Days Gone would become the second PlayStation 4 exclusive - after Horizon Zero Dawn - to make its way to PC. Days Gone was set to launch on PC on May 18th.

Issues with Days Gone 2

In April 2021, it was revealed that Days Gone would not be getting a sequel, for unspecified reasons. At the time, many speculated that the decision was due to the game’s relatively lukewarm reception. Jason Schreier, known for uncovering behind-the-scenes industry stories, reported that the Days Gone 2 project had been rejected by the publisher. Bend Studio employees were then reassigned to Naughty Dog, where they helped work on a new multiplayer game and the fifth Uncharted installment. He also claimed that some team members, unhappy with this situation, formally requested to end their collaboration with the studio. Once the request was approved, the departing team members returned to the parent studio and were able to concentrate on creating a new, original project.

Shortly after, Jeff Ross spoke out about the situation. While he didn’t reveal the actual status of the Days Gone sequel, he did share some details about the features that had been planned for it. According to him, the biggest addition the developers had planned for the sequel was a cooperative multiplayer mode. A few days later, fans of Deacon St. John's adventures took matters into their own hands, launching an online petition urging Sony to act - and in less than two weeks, it had already gathered over 67,000 signatures.

It wasn’t long before John Garvin also weighed in on the matter. He argued that players who liked the game should support it by buying it at full price; otherwise, they had no right to complain about the lack of a sequel.

Cancelled live-service game

Meanwhile, Sony stayed firm and tasked Bend Studio with developing an entirely new game, one that would include online features. Over time, it emerged that this new project would be a live-service game, building on the foundation laid by Days Gone. In the end, though, this mysterious project was canceled, as Bloomberg reported in January 2025.

Still, the team had Days Gone Remastered, announced in February 2025, ready to go, along with other projects reportedly being talked about “behind closed doors.” However, according to unofficial reports, the cancellation of the live-service project was expected to lead to layoffs of an unspecified number of designers.