Concord, Sony’s foray into the competitive live service market, reportedly sold only 25,000 copies since its launch, forcing the console manufacturer to make the tough decision of cutting its losses and shutting the game down effective today, September 6.
Firewalk Studios’ debut title reportedly cost Sony somewhere between $100 million to $300 million, making this one of the most expensive failures in gaming history.
Sony’s decision to completely halt salts and shut down the game’s servers is a clear indication of the severity of the situation as is the definitive closure statement on X. It isn’t unusual for games to struggle out of the gates, but they persist for months or even years before forcing the publishers to take such drastic measures. This rapid closure suggests that Sony sees little hope for a turnaround.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Concord’s main issue wasn’t that it was a bad game, but rather that it failed to stand out in a crowded market. In contrast, Valve is seeing success with Deadlock in the same genre. Concord is a good game with excellent core mechanics that fell short everywhere else, which was ultimately its undoing along with the limited marketing reach.
Ironically, Concord’s shut down comes amidst Sony’s most successful month so far in what should’ve been a “quiet year” off the backs of single-player titles like Black Myth: Wukong and Astro Bot.
Between the success of its non-live-service titles and Concord’s immediate collapse, there are calls for Sony to reevaluate its approach although this is highly unlikely.
A better question is to wonder what’s next for Firewalk Studios. Sony acquired the Washington-based studio, presumably based on the pedigree of the people within it. After failing to deliver, it’s unclear what role the studio will now play in Sony’s future. It’s possible Sony will put them to work on Haven Studios’ Fairgames$ or Bungie’s Marathon.
It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where Concord went wrong but it does show that Sony might have to be more involved with its live service games going forward.
Both Microsoft and Sony have seen live service blunders in recent years, which might have been mitigated if leadership had been more involved. Perhaps Sony could’ve pulled the plug on Concord much earlier, similar to what it did with The Last of Us’ multiplayer had it had a more hands-on approach.
For now, at least Sony can focus its efforts towards the impending reveal of the PlayStation 5 Pro, which may or may not happen later this month and come with a shockingly steep price point.
