Games can be canceled for more reasons than they're just not good.
It's entirely possible that Sony looked at their portfolio of games and said we have too many of these games in the pipeline and this one isn't far enough along to keep paying for it.
The reality is we don't have the details here.
We do know that one of their co-founders left very early. We also know that Sony didn't buy this studio despite buying Firesprite. We don't know why that is either.
These things are often more nuanced than we would like to believe.
But I'd suggest everyone ask themselves how many FPS you think Sony wants to publish.
It's certainly true that there could be any number of reasons. I just feel that when you break it all down for what we do know and compare it to similar situations, then look at the myriad stories of mismanagement, it's not hard to draw the conclusion that it was indeed that.
The website was just the cherry on top. Even if it meant absolutely nothing, it's still like, "Well, if it was mismanagement, maybe that website was pretty accurate In showing what their priorities were"?
And it really has nothing to do with companies giving their employees fun perks. I don't really think anyone is against that. Banging the drum of indoctrinated slavery is really missing what people are saying. Not you, but others.
Blundell leaving his newly founded studio well before their game was ready was a huge red flag and it was called out as such back when it happened. Though that could also have happened for any number of reasons, we've more than enough examples throughout the years to confidently say that's frequently an indication things weren't well at the company. That the game was seemingly canceled half a year later while other partners were bought kinda reinforces that feeling.
When it comes to the type of game and whether Sony wanted that many, well, they bought or partnered with several studios making FPS games at the time the purchase or partnership happened. They would have been aware for years what was being made. I doubt that if Deviation had something compelling that Sony would have canned their project.
But that's still a point worth bringing up that maybe the simple answer is that Sony didn't want to have Destiny, Marathon, Concord, and Deviation's title competing against each other while also trying to tackle the other FPS titles in the market. Though I do wonder what exactly it was, seeing as how they were hiring for people with experience in action/rpg games.