Concord Developer Firewalk Studios has been shut down by Sony Interactive Entertainment, according to an internal email from CEO Hermen Hulst. The failed shooter has been permanently disabled, Hulst confirmed, and will not return.
“After much thought, we have determined that the best path forward is to permanently suspend the game and close the studio,” Hulst said in the email sent to employees on Tuesday. “I want to thank everyone at Firewalk for their craftsmanship, creative spirit and dedication.”
Hulst explained that after taking Concord Offline in September, SIE “spent considerable time these past few months exploring all of our options” for the shooter. “The PvP first-person shooter genre is a continually evolving competitive space and, unfortunately, we fell short of our goals with this title,” he said. “We will take advantage of the lessons learned from Concord and continue to advance our live service capabilities to achieve future growth in this area.”
In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), Firewalk Studios wrote that it was “logging off for the last time.”
“We took some risks along the way (bringing together aspects of card games and fighting games with first-person shooters) and while some of these and other aspects of the IP didn't work out as we hoped, the idea of putting new things into The world is essential to promote the medium,” said the study. “Firewalk's talent and individual skill level is truly world-class, and the teams within Sony Interactive Entertainment and across the industry will be fortunate to work with them. […] Thank you to all the teams, partners and fans who supported us along the way.”
In addition to Firewalk Studios, Hulst announced that it is closing another Sony-owned studio, Neon Koi. Helsinki-based Neon Koi, which was previously called Savage Games and was acquired by Sony in 2022, was developing a mobile action game for PlayStation. The closure of both studios will cause 210 people to lose their jobs, Agency reported.
Concord It was originally released in late August for PlayStation 5 and Windows PC, then was removed from sale and taken offline on September 6. Then, Concord Game director Ryan Ellis said the studio planned to “explore options, including those that best reach our players,” while “determining[d] the best way forward” for the game.
Concord garnered headlines for its low player count on Steam at launch. According to a report from Agency, analysts estimated that first-week sales were unusually low for a first-party game published by Sony: only about 25,000 copies of Concord they were believed to have been sold. Amid bad press and declining player numbers, Sony and Firewalk quickly pulled the plug. Concord went offline two weeks after launch. Customers who had purchased the game received a refund.
Ahead of Tuesday's announcement, Sony and Firewalk's plans for ConcordThe future seemed open, leading to speculation that the game could be re-released as a free-to-play game. Concord It costs $39.99, or as part of Sony's PlayStation Plus subscription.
Firewalk Studios was founded in 2018 as part of the ProbablyMonsters game studio collective founded by Harold Ryan. Sony and ProbablyMonsters announced a publishing deal for the debut Firewalk game in 2021. In April 2023, Sony announced that it planned to acquire Firewalk from ProbablyMonsters.