Following the shutdown of Firewalk Studios' Concord not long after its rocky release, there'd been plenty of chatter about whether it'd get a chance to come back, and more importantly what'd happen to its developers . Well, we now know the answer to both of those questions - Concord's gone for good, and Firewalk has been shut down. Sadly, this seemed like it could well be the outcome ever since PlayStation made the decision to take the game offline on September 6 following a launch which saw low player counts and sales estimates , especially in an industry climate that's already seen far too many closures and layoffs in 2024.
Not that knowing that probably makes things any easier for the devs affected. In an official blog post , Sony released an internal email from Hermen Hulst - the CEO of SIE's studio business group - confirming that it's taken the decision to "permanently sunset" Concord and close Firewalk. Mobile developer Neon Koi, which was working on an unannounced "mobile action game" that now won't see the light of day, has also been shuttered at the same time.
Hulst wrote that the closures were decided upon as part of "ongoing efforts to strengthen SIE’s studio business". "Both decisions were given serious thought, and ultimately, we feel they are the right ones to strengthen the organization," he added, "Neon Koi and Firewalk were home to many talented individuals, and we will work to find placement for some of those impacted within our global community of studio.