Sony has officially decided to terminate Concord and close the studio responsible for its development. Just two weeks after the launch of the competitive team shooter by Firewalk Studios, Concord’s servers were taken offline due to disappointing sales. In response to the game’s struggles, Firewalk’s game director, Ryan Ellis, opted to transition into a more supportive role. Sony had previously indicated that it would explore its options regarding the project, but the final decision has now been made.
“After much deliberation, we have concluded that the best course of action is to permanently sunset the game and close the studio,” stated Hermen Hulst of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Studio Business Group in an announcement yesterday. “I want to extend my gratitude to all members of Firewalk for their craftsmanship, creative spirit, and dedication.” A spokesperson informed Bloomberg News that the closure will result in the loss of jobs for 172 employees at Firewalk Studios.
The online gaming industry is notoriously unforgiving, and Concord may have been adversely affected by its prolonged development period. During this time, other team shooters gained popularity and set new standards for player expectations. Many competing games are free-to-play and generate revenue through battle passes or seasonal models. The $40 price tag for a new, unestablished property like Concord may have deterred potential players, or it could be that the market for team shooters was simply too saturated for Concord to gain traction.
Regardless of the reasons, today’s announcement represents another challenging moment for the game development sector. While Firewalk Studios’ level of commercial failure is uncommon, it is part of a broader trend of instability in the industry in recent years. Layoffs and studio closures have become prevalent news topics, with several high-profile cases mirroring Firewalk’s fate. Notably, Firewalk was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment just last spring.
In a similar vein, Netflix abruptly shut down its AAA game studio last week before any projects were even announced, and Microsoft closed three studios from the Zenimax family earlier this year. As fewer entities gain control over a larger share of the gaming market, the willingness to experiment and tolerate narrow profit margins is likely to diminish. Consequently, such sudden disruptions may become increasingly frequent.
