Firewalk Studios, the team behind Concord, has been shut down by PlayStation

Another round of terrible news for the video game industry, as Sony has just announced the closure of two members of the PlayStation Studios line. Among these two is Firewalk Studios, the developers of the ill-fated team-based shooter that debuted and was shutdown within a lapse of barely 2 weeks, Concord.

Reported by Jason Schreier from Bloomberg, and subsequently confirmed by Sony themselves, an internal email from the CEO of PlayStation’s Studio Business Group Hermen Hulst revealed that both Firewalk Studios and Neon Koi have been shut down after “exploring all our options”, leaving not only Concord in limbo relating to its promised return, but also what is estimated to be hundreds of workers without a job to return to.

You can find the statement in full below:

”Dear Team,

Today, I want to share some important updates from Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Studio Business Group.

We consistently evaluate our games portfolio and status of our projects to ensure we are meeting near and long-term business priorities. As part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen SIE’s Studio Business, we have had to make a difficult decision relating to two of our studios – Neon Koi and Firewalk Studios.

Expanding beyond PlayStation devices and crafting engaging online experiences alongside our single-player games are key focal areas for us as we evolve our revenue streams. We need to be strategic, though, in bringing our games to new platforms and recognize when our games fall short of meeting player expectations.

While mobile remains a priority growth area for the Studio Business, we are in the very early stage of our mobile efforts. To achieve success in this area we need to concentrate on titles that are in-line with PlayStation Studios’ pedigree and have the potential to reach more players globally.

With this re-focused approach, Neon Koi will close, and its mobile action game will not be moving forward. I want to express my gratitude to everyone at Neon Koi for their hard work and endless passion to innovate.

Regarding Firewalk, as announced in early September (An Important Update on Concord), certain aspects of Concord were exceptional, but others did not land with enough players, and as a result we took the game offline. 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.

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. We will take the lessons learned from Concord and continue to advance our live service capabilities to deliver future growth in this area.

I know none of this is easy news to hear, particularly with colleagues and friends departing SIE. Both decisions were given serious thought, and ultimately, we feel they are the right ones to strengthen the organization. Neon Koi and Firewalk were home to many talented individuals, and we will work to find placement for some of those impacted within our global community of studios where possible.

I am a big believer in the benefits of embracing creative experimentation and developing new IP. However, growing through sustainable financials, especially in a challenged economic environment is critical.

While today is a difficult day, there is much to look forward to in the months ahead from the Studio Business Group and our teams. I remain confident that we are building a resilient and capable organization driven by creating unforgettable entertainment experiences for our players.

Thank you for your continued support. "

Concord was dead on arrival

Released at the end of August 2024 only to be shutdown on Friday, September 6, 2024, only two weeks after, Concord released to little fanfare and a cold reception from players. It sold less than 30,000 copies, and its player base was diminutive for a title of its genre. Sadly, the title turned out to be a complete failure, which resulted in PlayStation unpublishing the title, even granting full refunds to those who had purchased the game.

Was it as terrible as people claimed it was then? Well, from what little we were able to play, it wasn’t a bad game at all. However, its choices, design styles, and gameplay loops were not exactly appealing to a lot of people, which resulted in a bit of a messy title. You can read our Post-Mortem review of the game right here, in which we try to figure out just what went wrong with the production of the title.

All we can hope for now is that the people who conformed both Firewalk Studios and Neon Koi manage to land on their feet now that their jobs have been taken away. Success or not, these studios were filled with talent that deserves to be appreciated.

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