The chances of a Days Gone sequel happening could be slim at best, but that hasn’t stopped developer Sony Bend from considering what a follow-up game could add to its apocalypse sandbox mix. zombie after the end of production. In an interview with USA todayDays Gone director Jeff Ross spoke about plans for the canceled sequel, which would have improved on elements that had been panned by critics and gamers.

In the gameplay department, protagonist Deacon St. John would finally be able to swim and the instant-failure stealth sections would have been removed, much to the relief of anyone dreading Days Gone’s NERO levels. Interestingly, Deacon’s bike would be used as part of a more technical direction for the proposed sequel, as the biker could use NERO technology to improve his ride.

“I think we would have broadened the tone a bit in a more technical direction,” Ross explained. “The tone would have widened a ring to some of the new reality. I think it would have been a bit more, I don’t mean Avengers, but something where the player had resources, he had kind of a remnant of everything what the government had.”

The dynamically dangerous world of Days Gone would also be improved and feature deadlier enemies to face while exploring the post-apocalyptic nature. As for the narrative, Ross explained that the story would continue to focus on the relationship between Deacon and Sarah, as well as examining how strong their bond was now that they had been reunited. The rest of the game’s narrative was described as “heavy and strong”, which might have built on the surprise twist in the first game’s secret ending regarding the Freaker infection and how far it had actually spread.

Regarding the criticism of Days Gone being light on content when it launched, Ross added that the plan was to still build on the game’s model, much the same as the Uncharted and Batman games. : Arkham had done so in their respective franchises. .

“We have to be able to crawl before we can walk and walk before we can run,” Ross said. “I just see it as a trilogy. The first games – Batman: Arkham, the first Uncharted – are basic. They’re a platform to build on for subsequent titles. And if you look at a game like Uncharted, you could swim on the surface in the first game. In the second or third game you could go underwater. Then in the fourth game you dive underwater. They didn’t start with scuba diving, they built it. This applies to every game.”

Ross would eventually leave Sony Bend, citing one of the reasons for his departure and the cancellation of the Days Gone sequel being the studio’s shift to a more band-focused creative process instead of a singular creative director who was leading a project.

“We went from a single creative director to a creative committee,” Ross said. “And committees aren’t cool. You could have created a more collaborative environment where people can contribute ideas, but unless there’s structure, it’s just going to be chaos. And that was the news. direction the studio wanted. I was like, ‘Hey, it doesn’t even have to be me. It can be anyone, but we need a person where the buck stops.’ And it wasn’t. I like collaborating and getting ideas from people, but someone has to make a call to management.

Days Gone was back in the news earlier this month after Ross claimed the game had sold 8 million copies on console alone. Ross would later reveal that the source of this sales information was a trophy tracking website which has since shut down. This data could also be the result of multiple users playing a single copy of Days Gone, leading to speculation about the game’s actual sales figures.