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BREAKING: Sony is shutting down Firewalk Studios, the maker of the recent shooter Concord (Update: Neon Koi is also closing)

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Does this guy still have a job?
He should be next, if there's any justice in the world.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Can we now officially say that this game was the biggest bomb of all time in gaming? Didn't Sony pay $200M for this studio? Which now will have only made a game that they had to fully refund, before shuttering?

Sad Gordon Ramsay GIF by Hell's Kitchen
 

nial

Member
The writing was on the wall for Concord years back and they refused to change course, and instead doubled down. No pity whatsoever from me.
You also have to consider that there's a lot of people out there that still had to work under such terrible direction. As much as Concord sucked, there's nothing wrong to feel empathy with most of the folk at Firewalk.
 
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Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Hmmm, interesting. If this is true then I suspect they just want rid of the entire management structure. I'm still of the opinion that Concord will come back in some other form, most likely with a completely different name and from another studio.

If I was a betting man, I'd take a punt on them folding the best people from the tech and art teams into Bungie and using them as a support studio or satellite site.
 

nial

Member
Hmmm, interesting. If this is true then I suspect they just want rid of the entire management structure. I'm still of the opinion that Concord will come back in some other form, most likely with a completely different name and from another studio.

If I was a betting man, I'd take a punt on them folding the best people from the tech and art teams into Bungie and using them as a support studio or satellite site.
You're making a whole different game at that point.
 
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This is what happens when sony buys studios that has no ips under there hood and to much of gaas. They could of easily brought Bethesda publisher before Microsoft did with ips they could of put a bid in for ubisoft with there ips at least it's worth sonething
 

nial

Member
So the post-delisting activity on Steam was devs trying to put together one last pitch?

Really want to read the Schreier piece on this, have a feeling it will read like a thriller.
Anyone believing that Sony was going to spend more money on Concord was delusional, and yes, that mostly came from people who hated the game in the first place.
 
Wow, just...wow.

This is, hands down, probably the biggest M&A and game launch failure in the industry. You would think SIE's leadership would've avoided something with so many warning signs, yet here we are. It's one for the ages, that's for sure.

Did at least think they'd be spun into a support studio for the other teams. An entire shutdown? Not what I had in mind. Maybe SIE can claim them as a tax write-off of...what is it? $400 million now?

Jokes aside, I have much harsher and scathing opinions about how SIE have handled this entire game and the studio, and their retardedly pursued GAAS initiative altogether that IMHO has basically screwed their 1P of most of the remainder of this gen. But I can save that for another time.
 

Kurotri

Member
Bioware must be shitting their pants right now.
Honestly I think Bioware is safe until atleast the next Mass Effect. Probably after that though, but who knows? That studio has been limping along for a decade and EA seems to be okay with it.
 
Bioware must be shitting their pants right now.
A game like Dragon Age Veilguard has much more brand power and hype versus drivel such as Concord, DEI influence or not. The reviews are very positive too; I'm sure it will sell well enough to keep them afloat.
 
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Astray

Member
Anyone believing that Sony was going to spend more money on Concord was delusional, and yes, that mostly came from people who hated the game in the first place.
Oh I had no doubt that it was gonna end this way, you don't refund all buyers like that and then just relist the game as F2P.

But if I was inside that studio and my job was on the line, I'd put together anything I could to save it.
 
"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."

This guy is going to kill Playstation.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
What a waste that was. At least the workers got years worth of salaries.

They must had seriously considered F2P as it’s been almost two months since servers shut down. Considering how bad it was they really should had cut the cord faster, but adding a few extra months of costs is negligible at this point.

Going forward with new GAAS games, just stick to tried and true settings and don’t go wild on DEI stuff. Rejuvenate Killzone or Warhawk or whatever.

No idea who or what neon koi made.
 
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