After just twelve days, Sony took Concord, the great shooter hope for PS5 and Steam, offline, thereby putting the final nail in the coffin of one of the biggest flops in video game history. Now the end for the responsible studio is certain.
What about the studio? In an official letter from Hermen Hulst, CEO of the PlayStation Studio Business Group, employees were informed that Firewalk Studios and Neon Koi (a studio for mobile games) would be closed (via sonyinteractive.com).
The letter said: “We have spent considerable time over the last few months considering all of our options. After careful consideration, we have come to the conclusion that the best course of action is to permanently discontinue the game and close the studio. I would like to thank everyone at Firewalk for their craftsmanship, creative spirit and dedication.”
It is currently unclear how many employees will specifically be affected by the layoffs.
One of the gameplay trailers for Concord:
Sony shows the first gameplay of the new PvP shooter Concord
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Historical flop
What do I need to know about Concord? The multiplayer shooter should become one of Sony’s new pillars in order to expand its own, previously weak, games-as-a-service foundation. Firewalk Studios was even taken over in April 2023 for this purpose. But things turned out completely differently than expected:
Meanwhile, Concord game director Ryan Ellis has stepped down from his post to move into a supporting role. For long-time players, an old friend is saying goodbye, because Ellis was the creative boss of the best DLC in Destiny, and now he is the face of Sony’s flop on PS5 and Steam