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

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Killjoy-NL

Banned
Haven is next? Bend will get closed with their crap gaas too. What will be of sony studios in 5 years? SSM, ND, SP, Guerrilla, Asobi Studios and Polyphony? 1 game released per 2 years? They are totally fucked.
Totally fucked?

Sony will release Ghost of Yotei in februari and almost everyone will forget all about Concord and Firewalk.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Perhaps Secret Level might consider 14 episodes.

The way it brought GAF together to laugh at the stupidity of buying this dev, heavily marketing it (including a huge segment in one of their State of Plays) and then doubling down and still releasing it.

Sony was so damn stupid.

This is the problem with these corporations too far into their own asses. They have no clue apparently. They keep pushing this woke shit, literally the first second this game was shown live, it was being blasted to hell. You should know by now that if a reception is so negative accross the entire gaming space, the game will bomb. And the beta was an absolute confirmation; the gamer said fuck off.

Especially for a game that relies on the GaaS model, is another FPS, and this needs a healthy playerbase from day one to even succeed. Not to mention its essentially F2P trash at the cost of 40 bucks probably to try to recuperate the acquisitions costs quickly. Everyone could see this one coming, but Sony went and released it anyway. They should've severed it straight after the SoP, or after the Beta. But they would've lost the development costs regardless.

Still, Sony could like sell the shipments, and quietly close the servers early next year or something. They did pull it entirely and refunded, which is actually a good move towards the few buyers.
 
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nowhat

Member
Sony will release Ghost of Yotei in februari and almost everyone will forget all about Concord and Firewalk.
In February? I don't think this has been confirmed? Other than the release being in 2025.

I hate the "if I were the CEO threads", but, if I were the CEO/in charge of publishing - AC Shadows will be released in February 2025. It will undoubtedly be a shitshow. Wait for it to die down. Then, in July/August (after a "totally not E3" bigger reveal in June) release it. People would totally eat it up.
 
Nothing unexpected, especially from Sony, with this new leadership.

All parties (except the studio owner who took a fat acquisition cheque) would have been better off if Sony didn't acquire them, let alone funding this.
 

Killjoy-NL

Banned
In February? I don't think this has been confirmed? Other than the release being in 2025.

I hate the "if I were the CEO threads", but, if I were the CEO/in charge of publishing - AC Shadows will be released in February 2025. It will undoubtedly be a shitshow. Wait for it to die down. Then, in July/August (after a "totally not E3" bigger reveal in June) release it. People would totally eat it up.
Ah yeah, could've sworn the trailer stated february. Guess I mixed up the date somehow.
 

twilo99

Member
Wow this is crazy. This will be studied in business classes for decades.

So a business organization that underperforms and gets shut down is worthy of such esteem for sure… groundbreaking stuff that has never happened in business before.
 

AmuroChan

Member
Haven is next? Bend will get closed with their crap gaas too. What will be of sony studios in 5 years? SSM, ND, SP, Guerrilla, Asobi Studios and Polyphony? 1 game released per 2 years? They are totally fucked.

San Diego Studio alone releases a game every year. So let's not overreact because a studio that nobody cares about got closed down.
 

Shakka43

Member
As fun as the dunking is (please don't stop), I do feel for the people who are out of work and now have to figure out their next paycheck. That's an awful ordeal to go through.
I do feel sorry for the regular Joes and Janes in the team and hope they find something good fast. For the decision making ones? not one bit.
 
So a business organization that underperforms and gets shut down is worthy of such esteem for sure… groundbreaking stuff that has never happened in business before.

A studio that underperforms is not newsworthy but how this drama happened definitely is.

it's groundbreaking that Sony pays 400M for a project by an unproven studio acquired from a bunch of nobodies who can't even design a proper website.

If this is not a scam (and it might very well be) this should be a case study.
 

Alan Wake

Member
"Our mission is to craft incredible multiplayer experiences that bring people together and inspire unforgettable and unexpected shared moments."

Well, I think you slipped a bit there.
 

efyu_lemonardo

May I have a cookie?
So a business organization that underperforms and gets shut down is worthy of such esteem for sure… groundbreaking stuff that has never happened in business before.
Probably meant it'll be studied as an example of a US$400 Million echo chamber that imploded immediately upon contact with the real world.

Calling it underperforming is a severely rose tinted perspective.
 

Haint

Member
Remember when this cunt said that we'd have no more games to play? LMAO Looks like she no longer has a place to work at.....my my my how the turntables



There is zero doubt she already has a new $200k+ job, probably within Sony. These studios just pass around the same people.
 
Quite right, the game was a disaster, they should have pulled it when the beta had no players, given it more time, ran some more tests after making changes, but they stubbornly stuck to a formula that was not it.
 

nowhat

Member
Do we still have a confirmation for that $400M figure though? Like, at least a semi-official confirmation? The game was already in development for four years before the Sony acquisition, so there have been investments up to that point. And then the acquiring cost. And then the development afterwards. And then the marketing... although, in retrospect, I guess Sony didn't invest much in that department (not that it would have made much difference).

Obviously a huge L for Sony, and I'm not saying $400M is completely infeasible, but it seems unlikely, given the size of the studio. Oh well, we may never know.
 
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