Sony Interactive Entertainment is permanently closing Firewalk Studios, the game developer of their recent live service shooter “Concord” which had a disastrous launch last month. The studio issued a statement on Tuesday that indicated that mobile game developer Neon Koi is also being closed. Sony took “Concord” offline, pulled it from sale and offered refunds to all players who bought it just two weeks after it launched in August with woeful sales.
At the time, Sony said it might explore the possibility of bringing the game back in a revised form. However in a statement today, PlayStation co-CEO Hermen Hulst confirmed the company isn’t moving forward with anything more on the title. Hulst says: “Regarding Firewalk, 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.
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 [Firewalk Studios]. I want to thank all of Firewalk for their craftsmanship, creative spirit and dedication.
The PvP first person shooter genre is a competitive space that’s continuously evolving, and unfortunately, we did not hit our targets with this title. We will take the lessons learned from Concord and continue to advance our live service capabilities to deliver future growth in this area.” Washing.
