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[Little Chicken]

Just because we barely saw any advertising, doesn't mean marketing money wasn't already spent.

There's also the various contracts that would've been terminated and payed out when the game was pulled, keeping on mind that they already had the next nine months blocked (two seasons).

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

People actually believing Jim Ryan was retiring was the most hilarious shit of all of this

I've always said, they made him shut down a studio on his way out. A guy in his position a) doesn't give up on a gravy train if everything is going good, b) doesn't get told to take out the trash if he's retired on top.

 

[chromatic9]

Concord Studio

PS5 Pro, disc drive and stand buyer

 

[StueyDuck]

Prediction: Someone like Ethan Gach will eventually give a more plausible number but they'll be accused of being woke and lying for Firewalk. The stupidity won't go anywhere. People are too dug in.

My prediction is that the number is going to come out and still be relatively high like 320-360 mil and Colin's source was dramatically rounding up like human beings do, especially when painting something negatively.

And then all the same Chops will argue and be like "YoU SeE". And the actual adult conversation of the fact that this game was an absolute monetary/time/resource sink is gonna get thrown to the wayside so that internet people can either own the chuds or the wokes.

 

[Xyphie]

Just because we barely saw any advertising, doesn't mean marketing money wasn't already spent.

There's also the various contracts that would've been terminated and payed out when the game was pulled, keeping on mind that they already had the next nine months blocked (two seasons).

It was pretty clear that the game was going to be a flop when the closed/open beta didn't spark any interest whatsoever, so I can see them just pulling the plug on any advertising after that. Launching the game after the beta always seemed like either a futile "gamble for resurrection" or fulfilling some contractual clause to me.

 

[yurinka]

• Skull & Bones: 6,875 people (5,927 professional roles, 948 thanks)

You know, AAAA games

People actually believing Jim Ryan was retiring was the most hilarious shit of all of this

Everything points to that he retired.

If not he wouldn't have continued there around half a year after announcing it, period on which he signed important deals like the NC Soft one or the MS+CoD one. Sony even made him multiple retirement parties, including cookies with his face.

And well, he was the most successful CEO of a console maker in gaming history and had almost all metrics on all time high numbers and in a growing pattern. There was no known reason to fire him.

 

[Kotaro]

Maybe that amount includes the episode of Secret level.

Sony gotta at least co-finance or even fully finance that episode, because this is practically an unknown IP, no brand recognition, Sony must've pushed Amazon hard to include it in their series. There's no way Amazon would be willing to spend money on an unknown brand

 

[PatientGamer]

Also whilst the game has died.. do you all think the IP is dead forever, or will it resurface at some point in a completely different format?

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Also whilst the game has died.. do you all think the IP is dead forever, or will it resurface at some point in a completely different format?

The name is the lamest possible and the concept is nothing to write home about. I can't see how this might become appealing in any form.

What you say would apply to something like The Order 1886.

 

[Rentahamster]

Given what we know now, the comments in this Reddit post from a year ago are interesting.

 

[Urban]

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

My prediction is that the number is going to come out and still be relatively high like 320-360 mil and Colin's source was dramatically rounding up like human beings do, especially when painting something negatively.

And then all the same Chops will argue and be like "YoU SeE". And the actual adult conversation of the fact that this game was an absolute monetary/time/resource sink is gonna get thrown to the wayside so that internet people can either own the chuds or the wokes.

It'll be around 100 million because that's generally the budget for games of that dev size, that outsourcing, and that length of dev time.

The interesting thing is observing the cult like mentality twist Concord into 4 flops rather than 1 flop. Grandois delusions.

 

[StueyDuck]

It'll be around 100 million because that's generally the budget for games of that dev size, that outsourcing, and that length of dev time.

The interesting thing is observing the cult like mentality twist Concord into 4 flops rather than 1 flop. Grandois delusions.

it will definitely be far greater than 100mil.

CG cinematics will be disgustingly expensive, and they planned them for once a week, they've definitely got a years worth of cinematics (you can't pump out CG in a week).

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

it will definitely be far greater than 100mil.

Why when games with that dev size, that outsourcing, and that length of development are generally around 100 million?

CG cinematics will be disgustingly expensive, and they planned them for once a week, they've definitely got a years worth of cinematics (you can't pump out CG in a week).

They probably don't.

 

[StueyDuck]

Why when games with that dev size, that outsourcing, and that length of development are generally around 100 million?

They probably don't.

I know someone who is a producer for a VFX company that does work for games and movies (no not blur), the costs are mental. Deals get made in the many many millions daily.

 

[hinch7]

Bellular did a bit more digging into the whole thing

 

[Humdinger]

Also whilst the game has died.. do you all think the IP is dead forever, or will it resurface at some point in a completely different format?

This game has been taken out back and shot. It's not coming back. (imo)

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I know someone who is a producer for a VFX company that does work for games and movies (no not blur), the costs are mental. Deals get made in the many many millions daily.

I'm sure the CGI cutscenes added to the budget but I don't think an arena shooter with 16 characters and 10 maps is, which is why I'd expect it to be around 100 million. Still an expensive flop but not the absurd number Colin grabbed out of thin air.

 

[StueyDuck]

I'm sure the CGI cutscenes added to the budget but I don't think an arena shooter with 16 characters and 10 maps is, which is why I'd expect it to be around 100 million. Still an expensive flop but not the absurd number Colin grabbed out of thin air.

he didn't grab out of thin air though, he has a vetted source.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

he didn't grab out of thin air though, he has a vetted source.

 

[StueyDuck]

I mean do you have any actual evidence to prove he's making it up? why would he? what does he gain?

the dissenting opinions are literally opinions we have yet to have any other people source any actual information.

 

[bender]

I mean do you have any actual evidence to prove he's making it up? why would he? what does he gain?

the dissenting opinions are literally opinions we have yet to have any other people source any actual information.

Plot Twist: Colin's source was Men_in_Boxes

 

[Shifty1897]

Did you listen to the interview? Same problem Callisto Protocol had, urgent and extreme outsourcing.

 

[kruis]

Did you listen to the interview? Same problem Callisto Protocol had, urgent and extreme outsourcing.

That was supposedly only in the last one or two years after Sony bought Firewalk. And there's only so much you can outsource. The motion capping must have been outsourced, that was probably handled by other Sony studios who have all those facilities. All the CGI was done by others, just like the translations/dubs in multiple languages.

That's not going to make the budget of a game balloon from 150 million to 400 million, not in the case of a game with just 16 characters and 12 maps.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I mean do you have any actual evidence to prove he's making it up? why would he? what does he gain?

the dissenting opinions are literally opinions we have yet to have any other people source any actual information.

Actually, I spoke to two dozen Firewalk employees and I vetted them through a process that looked like America Ninja Warrior and Guantanamo Bay. I used sodium thiapental on all of them and broke the Geneva Convention to find out the truth.

Why would I lie? Why would I put my reputation in jeopardy? What do I have to gain? Prove it.

 

[willothedog]

Actually, I spoke to two dozen Firewalk employees and I vetted them through a process that looked like America Ninja Warrior and Guantanamo Bay. I used sodium thiapental on all of them and broke the Geneva Convention to find out the truth.

Why would I lie? Why would I put my reputation in jeopardy? What do I have to gain? Prove it.

What reputation? You are just someone hiding behind anonymity on a forum

 

[ArtHands]

We will find out in due time!

Colin could be ruined here.

Its his words against the many

 

[Chronicle]

Never even heard of this game and been in the PS ecosystem for over two decades. That's some poor advertising for a game with that budget and labeled as 'The future' lol.

 

[ArtHands]

It has the biggest exposure at the mid year PS showcase

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

$400M is just not plausible really. And his cadence of funding makes no sense either, $200M in 2 years simply cannot be justified anywhere.

This is a pretty basic Arena PvP shooter with a few maps and characters. The toxic positivity is absolutely true and you can see it even in the credits everyone brings up. If you worked 2 minutes doing some back end publishing function for Concord, you basically got credit lol. I dunno why anyone is using that as justification of cost.

The reality is that despite very long credits, the studios themselves drive the majority of cost (along with marketing). And you can't look at the studio size of Firewalk nor the marketing (minimal at best) and come anywhere close to $400M. Yes, the developer spend is HIGH in seattle. But the studio size is still way smaller than Sony's other large studios, none of which have managed to get to $200M spend in 2 years, let alone $400M for an entire dev cost.

Colin, unfortunately, just talked to a source who is clearly misinformed. And Colin himself said "Caveat, I'm no longer a journalist anymore so I'll just come out and say this...." yeah, that tells me everything I need to know. He's not properly vetting this or even standing by it all that firmly, because if he still was a "journalist" he would never be able to come out and stand by that claim because he himself is shaky on the source.

Did it lose Sony some money? Yeah, probably into the 9 figures. But hyperbole always makes for a great news story, even if it gets in the way of the truth....

 

[Peroroncino]

Been following Colin's work for a long time, he's usually spot on with his leaks, so personally I have 0 reason to doubt him. But with the number being so outrageously big, it's easy to see why many get sceptical.

 

[StueyDuck]

Actually, I spoke to two dozen Firewalk employees and I vetted them through a process that looked like America Ninja Warrior and Guantanamo Bay. I used sodium thiapental on all of them and broke the Geneva Convention to find out the truth.

Why would I lie? Why would I put my reputation in jeopardy? What do I have to gain? Prove it.

So the answer is that you have no reason for anyone to disregard his word.

 

[Peroroncino]

because he himself is shaky on the source.

Click:

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Click:

He's solid on the source...meaning, probably a firewalk employee.

I should have said....is he solid on the information the source is giving him? If he was, he wouldn't need to say "I'm not a journalist anymore...." yada yada

Just because someone may work for a company does not mean they have knowledge of the financial details of a project, especially if that employee is disgruntled.

 

[DenchDeckard]

I think how much traction this has made. There will absolutely be some marching orders to leak some form of cost of this thing.

There's just know way they let this information float around without some sort of clarification.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I think how much traction this has made. There will absolutely be some marching orders to leak some form of cost of this thing.

There's just know way they let this information float around without some sort of clarification.

I think there will likely be some disclosure in the quarterly financial reports, but they could obfuscate it. Sometimes with a sunk cost like this they just disclose it and move on…didn't we get that from suicide squad?

 

[Vexed Dad]

It's almost like the people making games aren't actual gamers themselves.

 

[ArtHands]

can you imagine the drama behind the scene, over this 8 years game project that cost $400m?

 

[Hohenheim]

Herman Hulst must be a dead man walking at Sony after this total fiasco. Especially if it's true that this project was his "love child".
It can't be possible to be so out of touch and keep a position like that.
Guess him putting his ps5 upside down is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how incredible incompetent he is when it comes to all things game related.

 

[Rentahamster]

And you can't look at the studio size of Firewalk nor the marketing (minimal at best) and come anywhere close to $400M. Yes, the developer spend is HIGH in seattle. But the studio size is still way smaller than Sony's other large studios, none of which have managed to get to $200M spend in 2 years, let alone $400M for an entire dev cost.

I can look at the structure and size of Firewalk's parent company, though, and it starts to sound more plausible.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

can you imagine the drama behind the scene, over this 8 years game project that cost $400m?

There has to be some serious knife sharpening, finger pointing and arse covering happening right now.

 

[Rentahamster]

Herman Hulst must be a dead man walking at Sony after this total fiasco. Especially if it's true that this project was his "love child".
It can't be possible to be so out of touch and keep a position like that.

That's hard to say when a very commonly recurring theme among modern gaming is out of touch executives create shitty game and suffer few consequences. With a failure so huge as Concord, a lot of people can share the blame, and once it becomes everyone's fault, it also becomes no one's fault.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Wait a minute. Has Sony been double cucked by bungie? Wtf is happening. Bungie with the ultimate nemesis play.

 

[Rentahamster]

Wait a minute. Has Sony been double cucked by bungie? Wtf is happening. Bungie with the ultimate nemesis play.

It was Microsoft's revenge for Phil Harrison.

 

[Shifty1897]

All the people who simped for Concord before release are now claiming that a man who built his storied 20-year-long career and two successful companies by commenting on PlayStation news and reliably leaking information is now making things up and not vetting sources.

You all look like absolute clowns, take the L and move on.

 

[ArtHands]

He (colin) should step forward and refute the accusations from these people

 

[violence]

He (colin) should step forward and refute the accusations from these people

Who cares. He's already upfront about how he came across the information. Even people who think it's fake can't be 100% sure.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Its down to the people who do not work at the studio and claim this is bullshot to provide proof. Colin vetted his contact and disclosed the information. It is news, as simple as that. It's time for anyone who wants to come forward and counter his news.

 

[violence]

There was a lot of dumb money being spent during Covid.

 

[clarky]

I'm sure the CGI cutscenes added to the budget but I don't think an arena shooter with 16 characters and 10 maps is, which is why I'd expect it to be around 100 million. Still an expensive flop but not the absurd number Colin grabbed out of thin air.

You keep saying thos cost around 100million.

What are you basing this on? Care to break it down for me? Or is this just an (un)educated guess?