Sony On Concord’s Failure: “We’re Still Learning”

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As a seasoned gamer with decades of gaming experiences under my belt, I’ve seen triumphs and disasters in the gaming industry, but Concord was a spectacle that left me scratching my head. With an 8-year development cycle and a budget reportedly around $400 million, it’s hard to ignore such a massive failure.

Story Highlights

  • Concord was (note the past tense) a third-person live service shooter by Firewalk Studios. 
  • The game, after several years in development, bombed so hard, Sony shut the project down.
  • Commenting on the affair, Sony executive says that the results of a new venture are unknown until it’s tried.

For decades, Sony has held a prominent position in the gaming industry and is widely recognized as one of its leading figures. However, when issues arise, they can become quite significant. In a recent investors’ meeting, Hiroki Totoki, President of Sony Group Corporation, shared some intriguing insights about Concord’s major setback.

At the moment, our education continues as we explore new ideas. It’s important to remember that outcomes for new intellectual property are unknown until it’s tested. Therefore, in order to make informed decisions, we require multiple evaluation stages such as user testing or internal reviews, along with determining the best timelines for these stages. Ideally, we would have carried out these evaluations earlier than we did.

If you didn’t catch the news earlier, Concord has been under development for approximately 8 years with an estimated cost of around $400 million. However, when the game was initially unveiled, many players expressed strong disapproval, and when the live-action shooter went live this August, it only managed to attract 697 concurrent users on PC. It’s truly unfortunate, isn’t it?

I do not remember the last time a AAA release of this stature failed this hard. Do you? 

Concord Served As A Hard, Bitter Lesson And Nothing Else

During the same conversation, Helldives 2 was contrasted vividly with Concord, with a focus on the impressive achievements and outstanding outcomes that the former has displayed.

This year, we’ve released two live-service games: Helldivers 2 and Concord. The reception for Helldivers 2 was overwhelmingly positive, while unfortunately, Concord had to be closed down. We gleaned valuable insights from both experiences, which we plan to disseminate throughout our studios. This includes improving title development management, as well as refining the process of regularly updating content and expanding services post-release, with the ultimate goal of enhancing our overall development management system.

Back in 2024, I jumped into the thrilling world of Concord on August 23rd. However, come September 6th, I found myself saying goodbye to this game and its creators at Firewalk Studios, as both were taken offline permanently.

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2024-11-09 09:11