Days Gone dev on zombie saturation: It’s like saying ‘superheroes are played out’

The creators of Days Gone have heard the criticism that there are too many zombie games out there, including some from Sony’s Naughty Dog studio that are among the finest games with the walking dead ever made. Nobody wants to create just one more zombie apocalypse game, even if it features a different setting from the usual urban rubble.

I played the latest build of Days Gone, making my way through a level about an hour into the game. After starting with a narrative experience, Days Gone shifts into a kind of open world in the Oregon woods, where you can choose a variety of missions aimed at improving your chances of survival despite scarce resources. Then I sat down with John Garvin, the creative director at Sony Interactive Entertainment Bend Studio, for an interview. Sony will likely show this part of the game at its booth at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in mid-June.