Ever since its calamitous launch , there ’s a tidy sum of discourse abouthowConcordfailedfor PlayStation . It ’s a fair conversation , but it ’s not the only one that require to be had for understand how we got here . We ca n’t push aside how PlayStation failedConcordand its developers .
Tuesday good afternoon , Hermen Hulst foretell thatConcord , which was close down two calendar week after its launch originally this summer , would not be coming back . On top of that , he explained that Sony was shut downConcorddeveloper Firewalk Studios and mobile plot developer Neon Koi . He mention the move as “ part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen SIE ’s Studio Business . ”
Just as I said whenXbox and Embracer laid off developersearlier in the class , this reasoning is n’t good enough .
Sony Interactive Entertainment picked up these team , and more , during an acquirement - glad era for the game industry . Sony believed it could grease one’s palms its mode into live service and mobile biz winner . That was n’t the shell , a major misreckoning by Hulst and other leader at SIE ’s Studio Business Group . or else of any of Sony ’s top memorial tablet being have accountable for that unsuccessful person , it ’s the developers who spent years work on those products . It ’s another augury of pitiful health for an industry that undervalue the people make its games .
Fool me once
PlayStation seemed very affirmative when it acquired Neon Koi ( then cognise as Savage Game Studios ) in 2022 and Firewalk Studios in 2023.For Firewalk , Hulst promised that SIE ’s acquisition would “ produce our live Robert William Service operations and birth something genuinely special for gamers . ”For Neon Koi , Hulst said that attainment was part of “ a go on drive to dilate our audience and institute PlayStation to more people than ever before ” via mobile gaming .
A couple of years later , neither of those bets paid off .
The bouncy service outer space is more competitive than ever , andConcordsimply did n’t have what it take on to go up against costless - to - bid torpedo shooters likeOverwatch 2orValorant . Meanwhile , Neon Koi ’s roving game apparently was n’t “ in - line of merchandise with PlayStation Studios ’ line ” or capable to contend in a lucrative but extremely competitory and bowelless gaming space .
look back , SIE ’s acquisitions of Firewalk and Neon Koi were highly hazardous wager . PlayStation purchased studios it had never work with in the hopes that it could buy its way into quad where it was n’t as successful . This last year has shown that this approach does not shape , even for giants in the gaming space like PlayStation and Xbox . Hulst claims that PlayStation “ will take the lessons learned fromConcordand continue to advance our live service capabilities to deport succeeding growth . ” He also explains that “ Mobile River remains a priority growth area ” for PlayStation and that the company is “ in the very early point of our mobile efforts . ”
These statements ring hollow .
Fool me twice
Most critically , Sony did n’t give Firewalk enough time to modify and fine - tune the game after a beta just before launch , which revealed several concerns . A delay was unlikely to save the game , but the team never got the chance to take any feedback to heart . Even though Firewalk delivered an imperfect game , the developers are n’t to blame for all ofConcord‘s woefulness .
While less is known about what Neon Koi is work on , PlayStation is select to toss off that studio apartment and undertaking rather than give delevopers the space needed to be successful . That ’s why I ’m doubtful that we ’ll see meaningful change from PlayStation after these studio closures . It is merely laying off the developer who worked on flawed initiatives from the get - go . That does nothing to address the multitude who made the decisions that ultimately resulted in these miss .
It ’s not a secret plan interior designer or programmer ’s fault that PlayStation made poor gambles that did not bear off . But now thatConcord’slaunch will forever be treated as a catastrophe that blemished the PlayStation blade , the developers will be the only ones forced to carry that weight . Another cliché Hulst leaned into during the announcement of these block was that shutting down these studios and sunsettingConcordwas “ the safe path forth ” for PlayStation . But who is that really the better path forward for ?
It ’s certainly not the best path for the 210 now unemployed developers , nor is it for players who got invested inConcordand no longer have a way to experience it again . No , it ’s only the best path onwards for PlayStation ’s bottom descent as it scapegoats its failures and turns focus back to beloved unmarried - player game likeGhost of Yoteior safer live table service bets likeMarathon . It was believably the right decision to move on from back busts likeConcord , but PlayStation ’s choice to fill up Firewalk and Neon Koi outright is the solvent of miserable leadership and a failure of answerableness from SIE . Do n’t ever leave that .
