Despite the failure of Concord, many had hoped that developer Firewalk Studios would be granted another opportunity to showcase its strengths.
Every game establishes a legacy of its own, but Concord’s track record is admittedly unpleasant. Sony has closed down Firewalk Studios, the developers behind Concord, after the game faced a poor reception and was taken down from stores within two weeks of its release. Mobile game developer Neon Koi has also been shut down.
Sony uploaded a letter from Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hermen Hulst, discussing the decision and the motivations behind it. Announcing that Firewalk Studios was to be closed and Concord permanently canceled, the letter explained that the decision was part of its “ongoing efforts to strengthen SIE’s Studio Business.”
Image: Concord – Reveal Cinematic Trailer
Sony Closes Firewalk Studios and Neon Koi—Here’s Everything You Need to Know
Sony announced its decision to take down its PvP shooting game Concord on September 3, 2024, giving players three final days to try it out before it went offline. The game had been released less than two weeks earlier, but it received extreme backlash from gamers and reported weak sales numbers that gave no indication that they would improve.
Firewalk Studios had spent over 8 years working on Concord, but the game was canceled in a heartbeat, leaving them uncertain about the future of the game and the studio. Reports from earlier this month suggested that the game was still receiving backend updates daily despite being unavailable for purchase or play. This sparked some curiosity about what the updates could be, but as it turns out, we’ll never know what the developers were working on.
There were some discussions on the possibility of Sony releasing the game again after reworking some aspects or making it free-to-play, but Sony has now sunset Concord permanently, leaving no room to revive the game.
Firewalk is signing off one last time.
Firewalk began with the idea of bringing the joy of multiplayer to a larger audience. Along the way we assembled an incredible team who were able to:
– Navigate growing a new startup into a team during a global pandemic: Firewalk was…— Firewalk (@FirewalkStudios) October 29, 2024
Once the decision to stop all work on the Concord game was finalized, it was likely that Sony felt that Firewalk’s closure was the inevitable next step. Sony thanked Firewalk for “their craftsmanship, creative spirit, and dedication,” in its announcement to let go of the team.
“The PvP first-person shooter genre is a competitive space that’s continuously evolving, and unfortunately, we did not hit our targets with this title. We will take the lessons learned from Concord and continue to advance our live service capabilities to deliver future growth in this area,” Hulst explained in his email.
The statement also shows that Sony aims to continue trying to break into the live service gaming segment, an area where some developers have found great success despite gamers repeatedly expressing their dislike for the gaming format. Twitter gamers have been pointedly insensitive about the matter of an entire studio of employees losing their jobs, but considering the vitriol that was spread regarding the game, this was to be expected.
Neon Koi and Its Mobile Action Game Will Not Be Moving Forward
Sony’s decision to close Firewalk Studios is drawing a lot of attention but the demise of Neon Koi is just as tragic. Formerly known as Savage Game Studios, the developer was acquired by PlayStation in 2022 to expand Sony’s reach into the mobile gaming segment. The studio was said to have been working on an AAA mobile live-service action title but unfortunately, this will now never see the light of day.
Despite the decision to close Neon Koi, Sony is still committed to expanding into the fold of mobile gaming, which is an underrated but surprisingly lucrative business for companies that can make it in. “To achieve success in this area we need to concentrate on titles that are in line with PlayStation Studios’ pedigree and have the potential to reach more players globally,” CEO Hulst stated.
Sony has stated that it will attempt to find work for some of the workers who have been laid off and reassign them to another position within its “global community of studios,” but no exact numbers have been provided.
