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BREAKING: Sony is shutting down Firewalk Studios, the maker of the recent shooter Concord (Update: Neon Koi is also closing)

Kvally

Member
Do gamers love to see games fail or something?
Come On What GIF by MOODMAN



That is all I ever see on the forums and social media. People love to watch games crater. They can't wait to bring out FLOP! 43 on Metacritic! Only 2 players active on Steam!
 
You know what, you're right.

It reeks of complete amateur hour miss management that we have never seen before.

This generations sony has been a complete and utter clusterfuck.

They had the easiest job, ride out the ps4s success and they are still managing to self sabotage themselves from that colossal generation.

So mismanaged that on day 1 of ps5 they had a new Spider-Man game and Demons Souls, few months later Returnal and Ratchet, then Horizon, GT7, and God of War…then FF16, SM2, FF7:R, Helldivers 2, Stellar Blade, Rise of the Ronin, AstroBot, SH2…

So every year a number of strong exclusives resulting in PS5 roughly keeping pace with PS4 despite the fact that it’s received price increases, not cuts.

Horribly mismanaged just because they had a start up venture that ended up failing? Sure, Dench…

Game development isn’t all rainbows and unicorns, you’ll have stinkers along the way. PS4 had a much worse start, you had new IP well in development from Sucker Punch and SSM cancelled, The Order which was a dud, and it wasn’t until the latter half where the cadence of strong titles was coming out regularly

The start to PS5 launch wise has been very well managed relative to most platforms.
 
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sainraja

Member
Come On What GIF by MOODMAN



That is all I ever see on the forums and social media. People love to watch games crater. They can't wait to bring out FLOP! 43 on Metacritic! Only 2 players active on Steam!
Not sure if you are agreeing with me or disagreeing with me? lol

But, in the case of concord, I can certainly understand it (the reactions) and I am one of the ones who thought the gameplay of concord was fine, but it was lacking everywhere else. I don't understand why the same thing is being aimed at Bungie.
 
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Kvally

Member
Not sure if you are agreeing with me or disagreeing with me? lol

But, in the case of concord, I can certainly understand it (the reactions) and I am one of the ones who thought the gameplay of concord was fine, but it was lacking everywhere else. I don't understand why the same thing is being aimed at Bungie.
I was just acting surprised is all, with your question. My answer is yes, gamers (the idiots) love to see games fail. And developers fail. And publishers fail. And console manufacturers fail.
 

poodaddy

Member
I was just acting surprised is all, with your question. My answer is yes, gamers (the idiots) love to see games fail. And developers fail. And publishers fail. And console manufacturers fail.
You guys are both being deliberately disingenuous. Noone wants to see good games fail, but when they're pushing DEI agendas that we are all exhausted of, (that we see plenty in Hollywood productions, our children's schooling, and in politics), that only appeal to 5% of the populace and actively alienates the vast majority of people, then yes, many of us are happy to see that fail. There's nothing idiotic about that, it's just that some people don't want to see games succeed that are actively pushing away the largest demographic in favor of attracting a much smaller and less profitable demographic. It's Business 101; pushing away the larger and more loyal demographic in favor of a smaller and more unproven one just isn't good for sustainability of the industry.
 

Kvally

Member
You guys are both being deliberately disingenuous. Noone wants to see good games fail, but when they're pushing DEI agendas that we are all exhausted of, (that we see plenty in Hollywood productions, our children's schooling, and in politics), that only appeal to 5% of the populace and actively alienates the vast majority of people, then yes, many of us are happy to see that fail. There's nothing idiotic about that, it's just that some people don't want to see games succeed that are actively pushing away the largest demographic in favor of attracting a much smaller and less profitable demographic. It's Business 101; pushing away the larger and more loyal demographic in favor of a smaller and more unproven one just isn't good for sustainability of the industry.
I don't disagree with your comment. I was talking outside of DEI, and specifically trolls wanting games to fail that don't appeal to them in general for console warring.
 

yurinka

Member
So mismanaged that on day 1 of ps5 they had a new Spider-Man game and Demons Souls, few months later Returnal and Ratchet, then Horizon, GT7, and God of War…then FF16, SM2, FF7:R, Helldivers 2, Stellar Blade, Rise of the Ronin, AstroBot, SH2…

So every year a number of strong exclusives resulting in PS5 roughly keeping pace with PS4 despite the fact that it’s received price increases, not cuts.

Horribly mismanaged just because they had a start up venture that ended up failing? Sure, Dench…

Game development isn’t all rainbows and unicorns, you’ll have stinkers along the way. PS4 had a much worse start, you had new IP well in development from Sucker Punch and SSM cancelled, The Order which was a dud, and it wasn’t until the latter half where the cadence of strong titles was coming out regularly

The start to PS5 launch wise has been very well managed relative to most platforms.
Yep. We also have to consider that PS5 had the issue of the shortages, and has been indirectly competing against Switch, which is on track to become maybe the best selling console ever.

Sony first party games broke their sales records in 4 of the 5 most recent years. And this generation, despite being on its half it's their top grossing and most profitable one. They also have their active userbase on all time high numbers.

They are also working in more first party games than ever, grew most of their studios and acquired several more. It's normal to have some game cancelled or tanking from time to time, but in general they are doing a great job.
 

BbMajor7th

Member
I was just acting surprised is all, with your question. My answer is yes, gamers (the idiots) love to see games fail. And developers fail. And publishers fail. And console manufacturers fail.
Schadenfreude is not what I'd call a new discovery. I think that people take particular pleasure in seeing certain games fail because they are emblematic of a shift in media which is attended to by a certain level of over-confidence, cynicism, or hectoring hubris. It's only made sweeter when the creators try to pin their failures on the audience who rejected it, rather than taking a long hard look in the mirror. Failure is, by the way, not necessarily a bad thing - in fact, it's often very instructive.
 

poodaddy

Member
I don't disagree with your comment. I was talking outside of DEI, and specifically trolls wanting games to fail that don't appeal to them in general for console warring.
Fair enough, yeah console warring is the worst part of this site and should incur an immediate ban every time. That being said, I think that people sometimes think someone is console warring when they fairly criticize a company.

For example I actually prefer Xbox over PS, (though I haven't even walked into my game room in months and touched either of them), but I've been criticizing Microsoft as of late as I just feel their business moves have been the height of idiocy, at least in the games space. I also think PS has made many idiotic moves as of late, but I prefer the Xbox ecosystem so when they constantly fuck up it affects me more personally. If someone was paying a bit too much attention, they might assume I dislike Xbox, but that couldn't be further from the case. I just think Microsoft is a bit retarded when it comes to....well many things these days, but particularly with the games industry, which is a bummer as I've invested quite a lot into their platform, so its downfall is really not pleasant to see for me.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
concord-characters-daw-550x309.jpg


I just wanted to say what an amazing time I had with all y’all on Concord. I met the most amazingly talented people and cherish all of the new friends I made like Bazz and Haymar. I’m working with Men in Boxes to hopefully find a new GaaS to call home! Stay tuned xoxox
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Come On What GIF by MOODMAN



That is all I ever see on the forums and social media. People love to watch games crater. They can't wait to bring out FLOP! 43 on Metacritic! Only 2 players active on Steam!
Totally.

It’s a big laugh. And also bragging rights for people who avoided buying it. A told you so kind of vibe. And also post mortem analysis where gamers can pinpoint why it failed in spades.
 

HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member
Ofcourse, I enjoy corporate shit games like Concord being failures but I am happy a passion project like Astro Bot is succesful. There is games, and then there is games.
There are games that set out to be enjoyable like Astro bot

Then we have games that first wants to set an agenda first and try to build a game around that, those games should die and their Devs should be asking people over a speaker if they want fries with their order
 
I wish the crushing failure of narcissistic pricks who call names to the fans, devs who should be grateful for having the opportunities that others infinitely better than them don't.

Fuck them, and fuck whoever claims the moral high ground over this. If you love videogames, you want this lot out of the industry. The same applies to movies or books, equally infested by this rot.
 
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You know what? Good. The only thing these talentless executives currently in charge of Sony care about is money. Let them explain this $400 million blunder to their shareholders. Let them do the same when Marathon and Fairgame$ fail too. Maybe a half dozen or so failed attempts at live service games will finally teach them a lesson.

As to the employees who are being let go, I'm sorry, but they never should have had those jobs to begin with. No one wanted these products and that should not come as a surprise given how vocal gamers have been about that fact. This is a simple market correction.

The next market correction however should involve Sony's executive team being replaced and moving the HQ back to Japan.
 
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Shifty1897

Member
You know what? Good. The only thing these talentless executives currently in charge of Sony care about is money. Let them explain this $400 million blunder to their shareholders. Let them do the same when Marathon and Fairgame$ fail too. Maybe a half dozen or so failed attempts at live service games will finally teach them a lesson.

As to the employees who are being let go, I'm sorry, but they never should have had those jobs to begin with. No one wanted these products and that should not come as a surprise given how vocal gamers have been about that fact. This is a simple market correction.

The next market correction however should involve Sony's executive team being replaced and moving the HQ back to Japan.
Supposedly this was Herman Hulst's baby, but my guess is he'll still keep his job and still get a nice tidy bonus in the 7 figures for the year.
Executives aren't held accountable anymore, not even by stockholders.
 
Supposedly this was Herman Hulst's baby, but my guess is he'll still keep his job and still get a nice tidy bonus in the 7 figures for the year.
Executives aren't held accountable anymore, not even by stockholders.
True statement. Corporations have gotten so large and powerful that even their owners can't fix them.
 

scydrex

Member
So the brought Firewalk and make them do Concord. Big FLOP and now they closed the studio?
Anyway don't care about this and so long.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
They didn't make them make Concord. They were working on the game before studio purchase.

Which is perhaps even worse. They saw these loonies, Sony got pitched something that had to be obviously woke, and they greenlit an aqcuisition right there. This isn't even Sony's usual MO to begin with. They bought Sucker Punch after they released 2 or 3 Infamous games for them. They bought Bluepoint after a handful of succesful remasters.

The best part is that the game literally made zero bucks, as every single copy sold was offered a refund. This is perhaps the worst acquisition ever, there are bigger money sinks out there but this one is just the most hilarious.
 
Why do I have the sinking feeling Fairgame$ will have a pronoun selector as well?

Also, pardon my saying this, as I mean no disrespect by it, but putting a black female protagonist with a giant afro and fluid gender/ sexuality at the forefront of your marketing seems to be the kiss of death for AAA games and Hollywood movies these days. See Redfall, Concord, Dustborn, The Acolyte, and eventually South of Midnight, Clockwork Revolution, etc... They're the canary in the coal mine for the developers' priorities and almost always spark a controversy on release. I'd love to hear what GAF thinks of this observation.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Which is perhaps even worse. They saw these loonies, Sony got pitched something that had to be obviously woke, and they greenlit an aqcuisition right there. This isn't even Sony's usual MO to begin with. They bought Sucker Punch after they released 2 or 3 Infamous games for them. They bought Bluepoint after a handful of succesful remasters.

The best part is that the game literally made zero bucks, as every single copy sold was offered a refund. This is perhaps the worst acquisition ever, there are bigger money sinks out there but this one is just the most hilarious.
I would not be surprised if those responsible get... restructured. These things take time in the senior level due to stock options and the like.
 

cormack12

Gold Member
Why do I have the sinking feeling Fairgame$ will have a pronoun selector as well?

Also, pardon my saying this, as I mean no disrespect by it, but putting a black female protagonist with a giant afro and fluid gender/ sexuality at the forefront of your marketing seems to be the kiss of death for AAA games and Hollywood movies these days. See Redfall, Concord, Dustborn, The Acolyte, and eventually South of Midnight, Clockwork Revolution, etc... They're the canary in the coal mine for the developers' priorities and almost always spark a controversy on release. I'd love to hear what GAF thinks of this observation.
images
 

FunkMiller

Member
Why do I have the sinking feeling Fairgame$ will have a pronoun selector as well?

Also, pardon my saying this, as I mean no disrespect by it, but putting a black female protagonist with a giant afro and fluid gender/ sexuality at the forefront of your marketing seems to be the kiss of death for AAA games and Hollywood movies these days. See Redfall, Concord, Dustborn, The Acolyte, and eventually South of Midnight, Clockwork Revolution, etc... They're the canary in the coal mine for the developers' priorities and almost always spark a controversy on release. I'd love to hear what GAF thinks of this observation.

It’s the kiss of death for projects that are primarily aimed at dudes between the ages of 18 and 45, certainly.

Millions of young black women out there, just crying out for something to be actually made for them.

But you’d actually need creators who were young black women, and not a bunch of white dudes with purple hair to understand that.
 
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FunkMiller

Member
That is all I ever see on the forums and social media. People love to watch games crater. They can't wait to bring out FLOP! 43 on Metacritic! Only 2 players active on Steam!

People like to watch BAD games crater. Everyone celebrates when something is good. Astrobot, Space Marine 2, Batman Arkham Shadow, Metaphor Refantazio, Animal Well, Balatro, Shadow Of The Erdtree… all 2024 games that have received very positive feedback here.

Same goes for movies, TV… anything.
 
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DonkeyPunchJr

World’s Biggest Weeb
Why do I have the sinking feeling Fairgame$ will have a pronoun selector as well?

Also, pardon my saying this, as I mean no disrespect by it, but putting a black female protagonist with a giant afro and fluid gender/ sexuality at the forefront of your marketing seems to be the kiss of death for AAA games and Hollywood movies these days. See Redfall, Concord, Dustborn, The Acolyte, and eventually South of Midnight, Clockwork Revolution, etc... They're the canary in the coal mine for the developers' priorities and almost always spark a controversy on release. I'd love to hear what GAF thinks of this observation.
It’s mostly guys playing these games. Guys want to play as masculine, badass, visually striking male characters and sexy, feminine female characters. (And it turns out that most women also prefer the latter). It’s not rocket science. Seems like we’ve known this forever and now we have to relearn it the hard way.

Imagine if you tried to make romance/drama TV shows and you made them all about middle aged gay guys with dad bods. What in the hell do you think would happen? You think the horny wine mom audience is going to tune in?

Plus STRONG DIVERSE FEMALE prominently on the front cover has become like the “Modern Audiences Seal of Shittiness”. I hate it that I feel this way, but I can’t help it. You start to notice patterns when they keep doing the same fucking thing over and over.
 
Nobody will ever have fun with their crappy game. Sony will make no money. These people spent years getting paid, getting their housing, food, and entertainment taken care of in the promise that they would do something of some utility to humanity. And they produced absolutely nothing in the end. But somehow, they still see themselves as the victims. The path to success often goes through failure, but without self-reflection this dev team is more likely to scatter throughout the industry, sinking their greedy tendrils into whatever studios they can, trying to bring down other games that have potential with their nonsense.

Rest in piss, Firewalk!
 

Varteras

Member
There are games that set out to be enjoyable like Astro bot

Then we have games that first wants to set an agenda first and try to build a game around that, those games should die and their Devs should be asking people over a speaker if they want fries with their order

The lack of creativity at Firewalk was apparent from the moment they unveiled what Concord was. An undercooked Overwatch clone wrapped in a Wish.com Guardians of the Galaxy skin. Sprinkled with the ideological trappings that Western devs keep shooting themselves in the feet with.

Sony deserves these lumps they're taking at the moment. Buying a company that hasn't proven its capability is a ridiculous gamble. Not only Firewalk, but Neon Koi. The fact that they were closed before they even pushed a game out says it all.

Now, all eyes are on Haven and the odds are against them. The silver lining is that Sony is in "Fuck Around, Find Out" mode with their studios. So these gross underperformers and talentless hires should be getting pruned.
 
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