Concord isn't coming back, and the developer is done for too: Sony says it considered its options and apparently 'the best path forward is to permanently sunset the game and close the studio'
It looks like Concord won't be making the comeback I predicted, as Sony announced today that the game will not be brought back, and developer Firewalk Studio is being closed.
«As announced in early September… certain aspects of Concord were exceptional, but others did not land with enough players, and as a result we took the game offline,» Sony Interactive Entertainment studio business group CEO Hermen Hulst said in a PlayStation Studios update. «We have spent considerable time these past few months exploring all our options.
»After much thought, we have determined the best path forward is to permanently sunset the game and close the studio. I want to thank all of Firewalk for their craftsmanship, creative spirit and dedication."
Hulst said in the message that he is «a big believer in the benefits of embracing creative experimentation and developing new IP,» but added that «sustainable financials» are critical, and that's where Concord missed the mark badly. Via SteamDB, it had an all-time peak concurrent player count on Steam of just 660, a number that dropped off quickly over the week after launch.
«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,» Hulst wrote. «We will take the lessons learned from Concord and continue to advance our live service capabilities to deliver future growth in this area.»=
In a final message on X posted shortly after Sony's announcement went live, Firewalk Studios paid tribute to the accomplishments of its «incredible team,» and defended Concord as «a great FPS experience… even if it landed much more narrowly than hoped against a heavily consolidated market.»
«We took some risks along the way—marrying aspects of card battlers and fighting games with first-person-shooters—and although some of these and other aspects of the IP didn’t land as we hoped, the idea of putting new things into the world is critical to pushing the medium
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