Oct 30, 2024 15:00:00

Sony announces it will close the development studio for FPS 'CONCORD,' which was discontinued less than two weeks ago

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has decided to close Firewalk Studios,

the development studio behind the fighting game CONCORD , which took eight years and $400 million (approximately 61 billion yen) to develop but was a huge failure, with service being suspended after just 10 days.

PlayStation Studios Announcement - Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan
https://sonyinteractive.com/jp/news/blog/an-update-from-playstation-studios/

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'CONCORD,' developed by Firewalk Studios, a subsidiary of SIE, is a competitive first-person shooter (FPS) in which unique characters engage in 5-on-5 battles. However, it received mixed reviews on Steam, with only 697 players at its peak. On September 3, 10 days after its release on August 24, 2024, the suspension of service and sales and refunds were announced.

Sony announces suspension of service and sales of FPS 'CONCORD' released on August 24, 2024, just two weeks after its release - GIGAZINE

SIE had been considering continuing to service CONCORD, stating that they were 'exploring various options to provide a better experience to our players,' but they have now announced that they will end the service without resuming it and will close the studio.

SIE updated their official blog on October 29, 2024, stating, 'We have spent much time over the past few months exploring all options and, after careful consideration, have decided that the best course of action is to close the studio and the game. We are extremely grateful to Firewalk Studios for their technical expertise, creativity, and their dedication and hard work to date.'

Explaining the reason for this decision, SIE explained, 'PvP (player versus player) first-person shooters are a highly competitive and constantly evolving genre, and unfortunately we were unable to achieve our goals with CONCORD.'

In addition to closing Firewalk Studios, the announcement also included the closure of mobile game developer Neon Koi.

Regarding the future of Firewalk Studios and Neon Koi staff following the closures, SIE said it would 'work to reassign them to SIE's global studio community wherever possible.'

Firewalk Studios is a game studio founded in 2018 by some of the developers from Bungie, known for the Halo series, to develop a new multiplayer shooter under Probably Monsters, a game studio led by former Bungie CEO Harold Ryan.

SIE acquired Firewalk Studios, including Probably Monsters, in 2023, but closed it down less than two years later.