Why did Days Gone fail?
Days Gone was widely considered a commercial and critical disappointment when it launched as a PlayStation 4 exclusive in 2019. While the open world zombie action game enjoyed a small core following, it failed to garner widespread acclaim, strong sales, or spawn an expected franchise. So what led to Days Gone underperforming relative to Sony‘s hopes? In short – genre fatigue, technical shortcomings, ineffective marketing, and overall lack of identity combined to blunt its impact.
Middling Reviews Highlighted Flaws
Days Gone scored a 71 average on Metacritic based on 86 critic reviews. This indicated a mostly middling reception, with 31% of reviews scoring 50-69 and 46% scoring 70-79. Only 15% provided scores above 90. User reviews sat higher at around 80, indicating some divide between reviewers and players. But overall, reviews painted Days Gone as a derivative, glitchy open world zombie game.
Common critiques focused on lack of originality, bland characters, a messy story, repetitive missions, and abundance of bugs/glitches at launch. Some key issues highlighted:
- Lack of innovation in oversaturated zombie genre
- Forgettable protagonist and side characters
- Pacing problems and bloated story
- Technical glitches and stability issues
- Repetitive mission design
Reviewers granted that Days Gone provided fun combat encounters and spectacular zombie hordes. But most agreed it failed to advance the genre or truly distinguish itself from other post-apocalyptic open world games.
Launch Hampered By Technical Issues
Days Gone‘s biggest problems out the gate related to technical performance. Early adopters encountered:
- Frame rate drops and lag
- Long load times
- Visual glitches and pop-in
- Crashing and freezing
- Audio sync problems
- Game breaking bugs
These issues resulted in a rocky console debut. While patches addressed some problems, others persisted for months post-launch damaging overall reception. PC version in 2020 enjoyed a smoother launch but couldn‘t undo PS4 troubles.
Genrefatigue in a Crowded Market
Days Gone entered a crowded market competing directly with several giant post-apocalyptic open world franchises. In the same year alone:
- The Division 2 launched to better reviews
- Capcom released the Resident Evil 2 remake
- Sony itself published zombie thriller Days Gone just months later
Standing out in this environment proved difficult. Days Gone was quality in parts but failed to differentiate itself or carve out a distinct identity. It lacked the boundary pushing innovation of first party staples like God of War.
Marketing Fell Short of Sony Standards
Sony has built a reputation for releasing industry leading exclusives. But Days Gone did not enjoy the same lavish, focused marketing push. Trailers primarily showcased the game‘s beautiful world rather than unique elements like mass Freaker battles. And overall promotion paled in comparison to efforts behind flagship series like Uncharted and The Last of Us.
This contributed to lower mainstream buzz versus other Sony tentpoles. First week physical sales reached #2 in the UK and Japan — solid but not exceptional.
What Does This Mean for Sony?
Days Gone highlights the difficulty in launching new IP in a challenging market. Sony likely hoped it would spawn an acclaimed franchise, but wound up with a one-off underperformer. This may inform its future strategy — focusing resources on established IP rather than new worlds and characters. Still, fans appreciate Days Gone for its strengths. It shows that every game, however imperfect, finds an audience that connects with it.