Key Takeaways
- Sony is still analyzing Concorde's failure.
- The company believes that there are not enough “gates” to ensure that the game meets players' expectations.
- Sony's “siloed” organizational structure likely contributed to Concord's failure, according to Sony president Hiroki Totoki.
PlayStation is still analyzing the cause of the failure. agreementAccording to Sony President Hiroki Totoki. Company officials said as much during a recent Q&A session, and even speculated as to why. agreement That's what happened in the end.
The first and last game from Sony subsidiary Firewalk Studios hit the market on August 23rd. It ended after just two weeks. agreement It thus became what is seen as the costliest failure of Sony's live service efforts to date.
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Former GTA Developer Comments on Concord Studio Closing
A former Rockstar Games developer who worked on several GTA games talks about Sony closing the studio behind Concord.
Now that agreement Sony President and CFO Hiroki Totoki confirmed during a Q&A session following the company's latest earnings call that he will not be returning to gaming in any way shape or form. Among other things, the executive said Sony is “learning” what's wrong with Firewalk's hero shooter. Totoki has come up with a few theories about this. For example, it points out that new IP carries inherent risks and is far from a sure bet.
There weren't enough 'gates' at Concord, Sony boss says.
Sony's president also expressed such an opinion. agreement There were not enough “gates” in the form of “user testing” and other forms of evaluation. The timing of these inspections was another potential problem he identified in retrospect. “We should have completed that gate much earlier than we did,” he explained. Instead, Sony seems unaware that the game could end up being a huge failure. agreement The open beta failed to generate much interest just a month before the hero shooter's market debut.
Sony's organizational structure likely did Concord no favors
Totoki also acknowledged that Sony's business structure may have contributed to Sony's failure. agreement. Specifically, he described Sony as a “siloed organization,” suggesting that Sony's individual departments are currently quite isolated from each other, and acknowledging that this may have led to a disconnect between the two departments. agreementThis is your case.
but agreement It ended up being one of the most high-profile failures in Sony's history, but it remains to be seen whether this fate will make the gaming giant rethink its foray into live services overall. Ultimately, the only live service game released by Sony in 2024 will be Helldiver 2It ended up being a huge hit. It sold over 12 million copies in its first three months on the market, making it the fastest PlayStation game to reach that number. As of late 2024, Sony is still working on several live service titles, including Haven Studios. fair games And the address's marathon. The latter is currently said to be aiming for release in the second half of 2025; fair games There is no tentative release window yet.