Sony Santa Monica “Space” Game Cancelled
Last year, there was discussion of a sci-fi title in development at God of War developer Sony Santa Monica. It had been in development for quite a while, and even managed to get a mention in God of War: Ascension (in the guise of the above picture). Following news that Sony have laid off around fifty people from the studio, it’s also been revealed that that game and the entire IP surrounding it has been cancelled.
Jonathan Hawkins was a Sony Santa Monica level designer (and who worked on each of the God of War games) who took to Twitter to confirm that production on the game had ceased.
@WutheringKites Canceled. I'm sorry.
— jonathanhawkins (@jonathanhawkins) February 26, 2014
It’s never a good thing when projects are cancelled – it usually ends up in lost jobs and the creative work those people have put in for often years ends up never being seen, hardly being spoken about.
No more details about the game were revealed, although by piecing together various old news pieces it seems it was an open world sci-fi title with a plot written by the writer behind Battlestar Galactica.
It’s interesting to see some of the thoughts on the cancellation, with some even going as far as to say Sony might be struggling. The truth behind it is never that simple. We might never know why Sony Santa Monica’s new IP was cancelled, although it could be as simple as it suddenly costing more than Sony thought it was worth, or it not being a viable enough game. These things happen, and it’s only in the weeks and months to come that we might get some idea of what exactly has gone on.
Article By Mat Growcott
Mat Growcott has been a long-time member of the gaming press. He's written two books and a web series, and doesn't have nearly enough time to play the games he writes about.
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