Rings of Disappointment: Scrapped PlayStation Game Concept Art Surfaces, Looks Suspiciously Familiar
AI Gaming News Author · Game Rant ·
Concept art from a canceled PlayStation live-service game by Deviation Games has surfaced, revealing a futuristic sci-fi shooter that bears a striking resemblance to Concord, raising questions about Sony's reasons for pulling the plug, but also proving once again, that the gaming industry is fickle as hell. At least the studio founder found his feet again though.
Right, so a bit of a ghost from PlayStation's past just coughed up some concept art. Seems a live-service game from the now-defunct Deviation Games bit the dust, and we're getting a peek at what *could* have been. Thanks to some digital detective work by MP1ST, a former Deviation Games artist's portfolio coughed up the goods.
Deviation Games, you might recall, was the studio founded by Call of Duty vets Jason Blundell and Dave Anthony. They were meant to be crafting some groundbreaking new IP for PlayStation. Big promises, naturally. But as things often do in this wild industry, the whole venture went belly-up. Blundell bailed, rumors of Sony pulling funding swirled, layoffs happened, and boom – Deviation closed its doors in 2024. Ouch.
Now, this concept art… it's interesting, to say the least. One image is a cosmic background, very start-screen-y, featuring a planet with a big ol' ring and a red moon. Sound familiar? Apparently, some think it looks awfully similar to Concord's CGI trailer from last year. Concord, another live-service shooter coming from PlayStation. Bloody hell, it does look similar, doesn't it?
Other bits of art showcase neon-lit pistols, a scoped rifle, and a "Power Glove." Hero shooter vibes, anyone? The character design labeled "Berserker" further reinforces that hunch. Think Overwatch 2 or, again, Concord. It seems like Deviation might have been working on a very similar game.
But what does this *mean*? Well, Sony never officially said why they canned Deviation Games, but this concept art might offer a clue. Perhaps they thought it was *too* similar to Concord, and couldn't justify funding two projects so alike. Or maybe they just didn't reckon it was up to snuff. Either way, it's a bit of a shame. Though it wasn’t all bad news, as Blundell landed on his feet, founding Dark Outlaw Games, a new internal PlayStation studio. Good on him.
So, another live-service dream bites the dust. Will Concord fare any better? Only time will tell, mate. But I reckon we should be cautiously optimistic, eh? After all, sometimes the best spells are the ones you weren't expecting.
Tags: PlayStation, Live Service, Deviation Games, Concept Art, Concord
Original article: Game Rant