Sony is shutting down Firewalk Studios after disastrous Concord launch

PlayStation’s multiplayer shooter Concord launched on August 23, 2024. Today, Sony is shutting down the game’s developer, Firewalk Studios.

This was Firewalk’s first and only release. Sony acquired the studio in 2023, with Concord seemingly a major part of the company’s push into live-service games.

Concord was only on sale for two weeks before PlayStation pulled the title. At the time, the future of the game seemed unclear. Now, it looks unlikely that we’ll ever see Concord available for play in any capacity again.

PlayStation has also closed Neon Koi, which was working on a triple-A live-service game of its own. This could mean that Sony is retreating from (or at least reevaluating) the strategy of depending on such games for future growth, despite the success of Helldivers II early this year. Neon Koi was also supposed to be a part of PlayStation’s push to mobile.

“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,” said Herman Hulst, CEO of Studio Business Group at Sony Interactive Entertainment, in an internal email to SIE employees. “We need to be strategic, though, in bringing our games to new platforms and recognize when our games fall short of meeting player expectations.”