Concord game developer Firewalk Studios shut down by publisher after poor sales

Firewalk Studios, the developer of the controversial shooter Concord is reportedly being shut down by its publisher.

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) announced on Tuesday (29 October) that it had decided to shut down the studio following the disastrous launch of the live-service first-person shooter.

“As announced in early September, certain aspects of Concord were exceptional, but others did not land with enough players, and as a result we took the game offline,” SIE chief executive, Hermen Hulst, said. “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.”

Concord was critically panned upon its release in August and reportedly sold just 25,000 copies in its first week.

Anti-LGBTQ+ bigots falsely claimed that the poor Concord sales were due to “political correctness.”

Right-wing critics attempted to chalk the games’ failure up to its inclusion of pronouns and so-called “woke” character designs. One right-wing Quora post falsely stated: “The developers of the game Concord have spent 250 million dollars, and pandered to trans, LGBTQ, and other DEI groups.“

Despite claims such as this, there was no indicator as to any of the characters’ sexualities, and only one character used they/them pronouns. Concord is also far from the only game to use “pronouns.” Even the Quiddich Champions Harry Potter game allows players to choose they/them pronouns.

Analysis from Forbes estimated that the game, which reportedly cost over $200 million to make, was the 147th most played game on PlayStation during its launch week and may have earned just $1 million.

The always-online video game was shut down and its sales were ceased immediately after just over two weeks. Firewalk Studios’ game director, Ryan Ellis, said the development team was determining “the best path ahead.”

The decision to ultimately cease development of the title further was, Hulst said, a “difficult” one to make.

“The PvP ]player vs player] first-person shooter genre is a competitive space that’s continuously evolving, and unfortunately, we did not hit our targets with this title,” he said. “Both decisions were given serious thought, and ultimately, we feel they are the right ones to strengthen the organization.

“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.”

In its own statement on the announcement Firewalk Studios posted on X/Twitter thanking the “very many teams, partners and fans who supported us along the way.”

Despite the setback, Hulst clarified that SIE wasn’t backing down on its live-service model, and instead use Concord as a learning experience to “continue to advance our live service capabilities to deliver future growth in this area.”