Sony Interactive Studios is swinging the axe with a ferocity even God of War’s Kratos would have trouble matching. The video game company announced plans Tuesday to shut down two internal studios and to “permanently sunset” Concord, the online multiplayer shooter it took offline after less than two weeks in September.
It’s a brutal end to a game (and game studio) the company supported for nearly a decade and one that could result in a markdown of well over $100 million.
“We have spent considerable time these past few months exploring all our options,” wrote Hermen Hulst, CEO of the Studio Business Group at Sony Interactive Entertainment in a blog post. “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 [Studios] for their craftsmanship, creative spirit, and dedication.”
The end of Concord
Firewalk reportedly spent eight years developing Concord (more than double the typical length of time it takes to create a game), and Sony had high hopes for the franchise. The studio employed roughly 150 people, including veterans of game companies, such as Bungie and Activision. Sony did not reply to Fast Company’s request for comment on how much it had spent on Firewalk and Concord, but some estimates have topped $200 million.
Firewalk is signing off one last time.
Firewalk began with the idea of bringing the joy of multiplayer to a larger audience. Along the way we assembled an incredible team who were able to:
– Navigate growing a new startup into a team during a global pandemic: Firewalk was…— Firewalk (@FirewalkStudios) October 29, 2024
When Sony initially took Concord offline last month, the company implied it was considering making changes to the game and making it a free-to-play offering. But in his blog post, Hulst (who, behind the scenes at Sony, was said to be a big supporter of Concord) did not mince words, saying, “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.
Another studio is also cut
Sony is also closing Neon Koi, a development studio that focused on mobile titles. Hulst acknowledged that Sony is in the early stages of exploring the mobile marketplace and the company felt the money earmarked for that studio could be better used to grow the overall PlayStation brand.
“While mobile remains a priority growth area for the Studio Business . . . we need to concentrate on titles that are in-line with PlayStation Studios’s pedigree and have the potential to reach more players globally,” he wrote.
Concord and Firewalk’s fate shine a bigger spotlight on the future of Sony Interactive, however. Concord was supposed to be the flag bearer for the company’s move into the live-services game market (online multiplayer games that evolve over time via additional content releases and updates). Sony said it plans to “take the lessons learned” from this game’s failure to “deliver future growth in this area” but the clock is ticking—loudly.
Outlook for the video game industry
The video game industry is evolving away from home consoles as other entertainment fields—including music, movies, and television—have embraced streaming options. A hit live-service title (like Fortnite) can mean billions of dollars in revenue. It appears that Sony needs to expand its footprint beyond the PlayStation as the industry redefines itself, even if most of its early efforts in this category have fallen short—and the company has cut back the number of live-service games it plans on releasing.
Not all the news is bad on this front. Earlier this year, Sony saw notable success in the live-services market with Helldivers 2. And a multiplayer Horizon Zero Dawn is still being worked on, along with the release of Bungie’s next shooter, called Marathon, next year.
This all comes as the video game industry, as a whole, is facing sluggish growth in 2024. A report from analyst firm NewZoo in August forecast year-over-year growth of 2.1%, a downgrade from the 2.8% it had forecast in January. And holiday 2024 is an odd year for both Sony and the industry. There’s a drought of big game releases coming this holiday season. Sony, in fact, has no top-tier titles coming from any of its internal studios.
