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[Perrott]

Something tells me it ain't objectively false.

“objectively false”? The claim is being made by the lead character designer at Firewalk Studios. Why should we not believe the claim of someone who has worked on the game for five years? What would that person gain by lying?

It is objectively false because we have official press releases from Sony, Firewalk and ProbablyMonsters relating to, initially, the announcement of their partnership with PlayStation and, then, the studio acquisition, on top of interviews with executive-level staff on GamesIndustry.biz, all stating that the studio was set up in 2018 in Harold Ryan's garage, before Sony got involved at that early stage and pressured them into building the team a separate building from all the other ProbablyMonsters incubation studios.

What is more likely to be wrong? A tweet from a random developer in the trenches who isn't even one of the founding members of the studio? Or various press releases put together by teams of professionals from the legal and PR departments?

That we are even debating this is fucking stupid. There's no debate here. And no one fucking reply to me about it.

 

[adamsapple]

And no one fucking reply to me about it.

- It's not a "RANDOM" developer, it's the LEAD character artist
- There's at least a couple of artists who start concepting things before they begin development in earnest. You don't just begin development full-bore from day 1.

 

[Icymanipulator]

Just read the title, but something about just deeply saddens me. So much time, resources
, and talent, for that.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

But it's been in development (not full development, mind) for eight year apparently. Granted, I'm just finding out the team was small at the start, the studio wasn't even formally founded 'till 2018, and whatever money Sony spent on them & development was probably in the last 3-4 years of its development (they only just acquired them last year).

It's got a lot of CG cutscenes and that probably won't be too cheap, so I can see a total budget (including seasonal content) of at least $100 million, even $150 million.



They're right tho (and I rarely agree with Ozriel xD); the GAAS market for shooters (any variety) is crowded AF. Concord will have to get incredibly lucky to have its big break. Overwatch 2, VALORANT, Marvel Rivals, Apex Legends aren't going to stand still with their roadmaps just so Concord can "have a moment" to be noticed.

At this point Sony/SIE'll need to pray one of the big mainstay hero shooters just completely crashes and burns for a while and Concord's got good enough content to release during that period. But we're talking like a 1% chance of that, at best.

I edited my previous post to address the competition.

Valorant won't be much competition on Playstation at least.
I didn't include Apex Legends as it's pretty much a BR, so basically a different genre.

Forgot about Marvel Rivals, so incl that you'd only have 2 games (MR and OW2) that offer real competition and that will make it very difficult for Concord to find it's place unless they make some drastic changes (primarily irt appeal).

 

[sankt-Antonio]

I dunno, the logic behind their gaas strategy makes a lot of sense.

In fact, with gaas they can potentially generate way more revenue that they in turn can use to release more sp games. Which is basically the entire logic behind their current strategy.

For that, they first have to invest into gaas and get some things running.
That's the point we're at now and if people would just be patient, they'll get exactly what they want.
But that's for next-gen.

Problem with gaas is, that titles that hit the zeitgeist / meme whatever get to get big hitters. And that is hard to recreate. And it’s even harder for them to stay relevant for years.

AAA SP games have a solid quality to success rating.

IMO, what Sony did is stock pumping. Promise the world and billions of gaas money instead of the “old” way of making a little less (guaranteed) money.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Problem with gaas is, that titles that hit the zeitgeist / meme whatever get to get big hitters. And that is hard to recreate. And it’s even harder for them to stay relevant for years.

AAA SP games have a solid quality to success rating.

IMO, what Sony did is stock pumping. Promise the world and billions of gaas money instead of the “old” way of making a little less (guaranteed) money.

And they are fully aware of that and explicitly stated so.

 

[simpatico]

Bros when the old school Japanese Sony investors see this shit they’re going to lose their minds. They don’t even want to bother with consoles, just make TVs and headphones. If the PlayStation story ends with Concord, it will be emblematic of the current AAA gaming meta.

 

[Perrott]

- It's not a "RANDOM" developer, it's the LEAD character artist
- There's at least a couple of artists who start concepting things before they begin development in earnest. You don't just begin development full-bore from day 1.

“Founded in 2018, Firewalk Studios is led by studio head Tony Hsu, previously GM and SVP of Destiny at Activision, game director Ryan Ellis, previously creative director at Bungie, and executive producer Elena Siegman, previously at Harmonix, Irrational Games and Bungie. The team includes a deep roster of highly talented developers who have helped deliver top-selling culturally impactful titles, including the Destiny franchise, where all the leads worked successfully together on both development and publishing, as well as Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Mass Effect and Halo. This collected expertise allows this team to focus on delivering a rich multiplayer game experience rooted in great core gameplay and inspired art.”
– ProbablyMonsters (April 22nd, 2021) / Official Website

“With ProbablyMonsters’ support, we were able to really focus on a game concept we’ve been excited about and we met Sony in 2018. And since that first meeting with them, they’ve been incredibly excited and huge supporters of not just the team, but also the project that we’ve been working on.”
– Tony Hsu, Firewalk Studios studio head (April 22nd, 2021) / IGN

“Firewalk Studios was founded in 2018 with [Tony] Hsu as the studio head. The first office was in [Harold] Ryan’s garage.
When Sony signed the [publishing] deal, they wanted the Firewalk Studios team to operate separately from the others. And so Ryan obliged by building a 1,500 square-foot building, [which] helped create a secure space at the beginning for the team to operate privately.”
– VentureBeat (May 28th, 2021) / VentureBeat

“Over five years ago, we jumped at the chance to set up a new studio and build a new IP from the ground up. Recalling our own favorite times with games, we founded Firewalk Studios around the idea of delivering memorable moments – those amazing, had-to-be-there times shared with other people.”
– Tony Hsu & Ryan Ellis, Firewalk Studios studio head & game director (April 20th, 2023) / PS Blog

Fucking read and don't reply back.

 

[FoxMcChief]

Just read the title, but something about just deeply saddens me. So much time, resources
, and talent, for that.

I’m starting to wonder now, was Sony aware they were being conned? Do they care? I mean, they got money to burn, so maybe it was just a roll of the dice, perhaps.

 

[Timberwolf25]

“Founded in 2018, Firewalk Studios is led by studio head Tony Hsu, previously GM and SVP of Destiny at Activision, game director Ryan Ellis, previously creative director at Bungie, and executive producer Elena Siegman, previously at Harmonix, Irrational Games and Bungie. The team includes a deep roster of highly talented developers who have helped deliver top-selling culturally impactful titles, including the Destiny franchise, where all the leads worked successfully together on both development and publishing, as well as Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Mass Effect and Halo. This collected expertise allows this team to focus on delivering a rich multiplayer game experience rooted in great core gameplay and inspired art.”
– ProbablyMonsters (April 22nd, 2021) / Official Website

“With ProbablyMonsters’ support, we were able to really focus on a game concept we’ve been excited about and we met Sony in 2018. And since that first meeting with them, they’ve been incredibly excited and huge supporters of not just the team, but also the project that we’ve been working on.”
– Tony Hsu, Firewalk Studios studio head (April 22nd, 2021) / IGN

“Firewalk Studios was founded in 2018 with [Tony] Hsu as the studio head. The first office was in [Harold] Ryan’s garage.
When Sony signed the [publishing] deal, they wanted the Firewalk Studios team to operate separately from the others. And so Ryan obliged by building a 1,500 square-foot building, [which] helped create a secure space at the beginning for the team to operate privately.”
– VentureBeat (May 28th, 2021) / VentureBeat

“Over five years ago, we jumped at the chance to set up a new studio and build a new IP from the ground up. Recalling our own favorite times with games, we founded Firewalk Studios around the idea of delivering memorable moments – those amazing, had-to-be-there times shared with other people.”
– Tony Hsu & Ryan Ellis, Firewalk Studios studio head & game director (April 20th, 2023) / PS Blog

Fucking read and don't reply back.

Replying back....just because

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

“Founded in 2018, Firewalk Studios is led by studio head Tony Hsu, previously GM and SVP of Destiny at Activision, game director Ryan Ellis, previously creative director at Bungie, and executive producer Elena Siegman, previously at Harmonix, Irrational Games and Bungie. The team includes a deep roster of highly talented developers who have helped deliver top-selling culturally impactful titles, including the Destiny franchise, where all the leads worked successfully together on both development and publishing, as well as Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Mass Effect and Halo. This collected expertise allows this team to focus on delivering a rich multiplayer game experience rooted in great core gameplay and inspired art.”
– ProbablyMonsters (April 22nd, 2021) / Official Website

“With ProbablyMonsters’ support, we were able to really focus on a game concept we’ve been excited about and we met Sony in 2018. And since that first meeting with them, they’ve been incredibly excited and huge supporters of not just the team, but also the project that we’ve been working on.”
– Tony Hsu, Firewalk Studios studio head (April 22nd, 2021) / IGN

“Firewalk Studios was founded in 2018 with [Tony] Hsu as the studio head. The first office was in [Harold] Ryan’s garage.
When Sony signed the [publishing] deal, they wanted the Firewalk Studios team to operate separately from the others. And so Ryan obliged by building a 1,500 square-foot building, [which] helped create a secure space at the beginning for the team to operate privately.”
– VentureBeat (May 28th, 2021) / VentureBeat

“Over five years ago, we jumped at the chance to set up a new studio and build a new IP from the ground up. Recalling our own favorite times with games, we founded Firewalk Studios around the idea of delivering memorable moments – those amazing, had-to-be-there times shared with other people.”
– Tony Hsu & Ryan Ellis, Firewalk Studios studio head & game director (April 20th, 2023) / PS Blog

Fucking read and don't reply back.

So you believe PR over someone who has been working on the game?

 

[adamsapple]

“Founded in 2018, Firewalk Studios is led by studio head Tony Hsu, previously GM and SVP of Destiny at Activision, game director Ryan Ellis, previously creative director at Bungie, and executive producer Elena Siegman, previously at Harmonix, Irrational Games and Bungie. The team includes a deep roster of highly talented developers who have helped deliver top-selling culturally impactful titles, including the Destiny franchise, where all the leads worked successfully together on both development and publishing, as well as Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Mass Effect and Halo. This collected expertise allows this team to focus on delivering a rich multiplayer game experience rooted in great core gameplay and inspired art.”
– ProbablyMonsters (April 22nd, 2021) / Official Website

“With ProbablyMonsters’ support, we were able to really focus on a game concept we’ve been excited about and we met Sony in 2018. And since that first meeting with them, they’ve been incredibly excited and huge supporters of not just the team, but also the project that we’ve been working on.”
– Tony Hsu, Firewalk Studios studio head (April 22nd, 2021) / IGN

“Firewalk Studios was founded in 2018 with [Tony] Hsu as the studio head. The first office was in [Harold] Ryan’s garage.
When Sony signed the [publishing] deal, they wanted the Firewalk Studios team to operate separately from the others. And so Ryan obliged by building a 1,500 square-foot building, [which] helped create a secure space at the beginning for the team to operate privately.”
– VentureBeat (May 28th, 2021) / VentureBeat

“Over five years ago, we jumped at the chance to set up a new studio and build a new IP from the ground up. Recalling our own favorite times with games, we founded Firewalk Studios around the idea of delivering memorable moments – those amazing, had-to-be-there times shared with other people.”
– Tony Hsu & Ryan Ellis, Firewalk Studios studio head & game director (April 20th, 2023) / PS Blog

Fucking read and don't reply back.

Sony Interactive Entertainment to Acquire Firewalk Studios from ProbablyMonsters Inc.

Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (“SIE”) announced today it has entered into an agreement with ProbablyMonsters Inc. to acquire Firewalk Studios™, a

www.businesswire.com

Firewalk was christened as part of Probably Monsters, which is the studio Sony acquired them from. Probably Monster has been around for 8+ years and it's the place the former Bungie guys opened.

So you believe PR over someone who has been working on the game?

It's incredible what lengths my guy is going.

The fucking LEAD ARTIST of the game is saying that it's been 8 years, but no.

 

[nikos]

You are using a random screenshot focusing on alternative skins to make your point.
This is the original core cast of characters that put Overwatch on the map:

There are at least 4 curvy and conventionally attractive women (2 of them in intentionally sexy outfits), there's a cybrong Ninja, a futuristic looking cowboy, a cool dwarf, people in cool looking armor, an edgy death metal looking dude with dual shotguns and a few fun and more "out there" designs like a Gorilla, a robot and some fat dude straight out of Mad Max.

Can you really not see the difference between this and Concord?

Aside from the designs of Overwatch's characters, they actually have charm, personality and interesting lore.

Even characters they've added recently are great in that regard. There are only a few I genuinely either don't like or don't really care for.

 

[Mr Moose]

- It's not a "RANDOM" developer, it's the LEAD character artist
- There's at least a couple of artists who start concepting things before they begin development in earnest. You don't just begin development full-bore from day 1.

They didn't exist 8 years ago, the dev talking is stupid.

 

[Nydius]

That we are even debating this is fucking stupid. There's no debate here. And no one fucking reply to me about it.

I’ll do whatever the fuck I want, thank you. And that includes replying to your idiotic rant when the LEAD CHARACTER DESIGNER - not some “random developer” - of the studio makes the claim.

I will trust the word of that person over some Internet forum dweller who thinks he can end an argument with a “don’t @ me” line at the end of his screed.

Fucking read and don't reply back.

Stop being a controlling fuckwit who thinks he knows everything. You’re not the owner of the forums. Kindly fuck off. Frankly I don’t give a fuck if I get suspended for telling your pathetic ass off.

 

[FoxMcChief]

“Founded in 2018, Firewalk Studios is led by studio head Tony Hsu, previously GM and SVP of Destiny at Activision, game director Ryan Ellis, previously creative director at Bungie, and executive producer Elena Siegman, previously at Harmonix, Irrational Games and Bungie. The team includes a deep roster of highly talented developers who have helped deliver top-selling culturally impactful titles, including the Destiny franchise, where all the leads worked successfully together on both development and publishing, as well as Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Mass Effect and Halo. This collected expertise allows this team to focus on delivering a rich multiplayer game experience rooted in great core gameplay and inspired art.”
– ProbablyMonsters (April 22nd, 2021) / Official Website

“With ProbablyMonsters’ support, we were able to really focus on a game concept we’ve been excited about and we met Sony in 2018. And since that first meeting with them, they’ve been incredibly excited and huge supporters of not just the team, but also the project that we’ve been working on.”
– Tony Hsu, Firewalk Studios studio head (April 22nd, 2021) / IGN

“Firewalk Studios was founded in 2018 with [Tony] Hsu as the studio head. The first office was in [Harold] Ryan’s garage.
When Sony signed the [publishing] deal, they wanted the Firewalk Studios team to operate separately from the others. And so Ryan obliged by building a 1,500 square-foot building, [which] helped create a secure space at the beginning for the team to operate privately.”
– VentureBeat (May 28th, 2021) / VentureBeat

“Over five years ago, we jumped at the chance to set up a new studio and build a new IP from the ground up. Recalling our own favorite times with games, we founded Firewalk Studios around the idea of delivering memorable moments – those amazing, had-to-be-there times shared with other people.”
– Tony Hsu & Ryan Ellis, Firewalk Studios studio head & game director (April 20th, 2023) / PS Blog

Fucking read and don't reply back.

I don’t get why you’re so quick to dismiss one over the other. One is literally the source and the other is one that fabricates stories for clicks.

 

[Fabieter]

Can't imagine this being actually in development for eight years. That would be insane!

 

[ViciousAgenda]

Lads, it's fuckin shit

 

[FoxMcChief]

They didn't exist 8 years ago, the dev talking is stupid.

 

[adamsapple]

They didn't exist 8 years ago, the dev talking is stupid.

That particular studio not being around for 8 years doesn't necessarily mean people who formed it weren't working on the concept beforehand.

 

[Mr Moose]

Yes, they even say they've only been there 5 years, not since the thing started.

That particular studio not being around for 8 years doesn't necessarily mean people who formed it weren't working on the concept beforehand.

The game has been in development for around 8 years and I’ve been there for almost 5 of them.
He's just bad with dates.

 

[adamsapple]

The game has been in development for around 8 years and I’ve been there for almost 5 of them.

People talk to each other and tell them how long they've been working on projects too

 

[FoxMcChief]

Yes, they even say they've only been there 5 years, not since the thing started.
The game has been in development for around 8 years and I’ve been there for almost 5 of them.
He's just bad with dates.

so it has been 8 years.

 

[Mr Moose]

so it has been 8 years.

How would this guy know? "About 8 years" sureeee.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

so it has been 8 years.

It's irrelevant, because people relate it to Playstation and they didn't get involved until 2021, which is 3 years ago.

 

[Mr Moose]

People talk to each other and tell them how long they've been working on projects too

The guy is clearly delusional.

 

[FoxMcChief]

How would this guy know? "About 8 years" sureeee.

Why are you doubting him? What has he done to make you question his superior integrity? Just because he’s involved in the biggest flop of mankind, doesn’t make him untrustworthy.

 

[Perrott]

So you believe PR over someone who has been working on the game?

PR? Come on, Heisenberg, you're better than that. If you have read any of the official information I've presented, you'd see that those are Firewalk's studio head and ProbablyMonsters CEO making those very clear statements about the studio having been founded and the project started in 2018.

Now who has more credibility on the overall timeline of Concord's development? The top-level executives responsible for setting up the entire operation and getting the project off-the-ground? Or an artist from the trenches making a twitter post and who even acknowledges that he's only been involved for the past five years, that being from 2019 (one year after the founding of the studio) onwards?

 

[Perrott]

Stop being a controlling fuckwit who thinks he knows everything.

I could bury you alive with receipts in relation to Sony, so yes, that means I know everything.

 

[Shubh_C63]

I am genuinely excited for this games launch
and Steam page numbers.

 

[Bernardougf]

You guys should stop arguing and go play concord

 

[Crayon]

You know what's hot right now? Hero shooters.

Great. Have one on my desk in eight years.

 

[Markio128]

Who the fuck green-lit this?

 

[Luipadre]

The guy is clearly delusional.

lmao so out of touch

 

[Kokoloko85]

But it's been in development (not full development, mind) for eight year apparently. Granted, I'm just finding out the team was small at the start, the studio wasn't even formally founded 'till 2018, and whatever money Sony spent on them & development was probably in the last 3-4 years of its development (they only just acquired them last year).

It's got a lot of CG cutscenes and that probably won't be too cheap, so I can see a total budget (including seasonal content) of at least $100 million, even $150 million.



They're right tho (and I rarely agree with Ozriel xD); the GAAS market for shooters (any variety) is crowded AF. Concord will have to get incredibly lucky to have its big break. Overwatch 2, VALORANT, Marvel Rivals, Apex Legends aren't going to stand still with their roadmaps just so Concord can "have a moment" to be noticed.

At this point Sony/SIE'll need to pray one of the big mainstay hero shooters just completely crashes and burns for a while and Concord's got good enough content to release during that period. But we're talking like a 1% chance of that, at best.

I wouldnt really put Concord and Overwatch in the same category as Valorant and Apex Legends. Marvel isnt even out yet.

Whether people like Concord or not, Sony has to try some other genres and online games. They cant just sit back and expect EA, MS, Epic, Rockstar to make money and not try.
Concord isnt the one to be that success, and Im sure they’ll learn.

It will probably be on PS+ within 6 month and FP2 after Season 3.
Id give the team new artists and character designers and they could make something better, or join another FPS project. Like Ready at Dawn, it would be waste because they do certain things pretty well

 

[TehGoomba7s]

8 years and still couldn't include an FoV slider. Shameful.

 

[Rambone]

It's probably safe to say that none of these characters will ever make the "Best Butts or Boobs" in gaming threads

I hope

Time to open up a new thread "Best Gunts" in gaming.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

"Some of the best developers in the world"

So their stupidity isn't limited to making games.

 

[salva]

I could bury you alive with receipts in relation to Sony, so yes, that means I know everything.

 

[Physiognomonics]

The guy is clearly delusional.

has so much humanity

 

[FoxMcChief]

You guys should stop arguing and go play concord

 

[simpatico]

It is objectively false because we have official press releases from Sony, Firewalk and ProbablyMonsters relating to, initially, the announcement of their partnership with PlayStation and, then, the studio acquisition, on top of interviews with executive-level staff on GamesIndustry.biz, all stating that the studio was set up in 2018 in Harold Ryan's garage, before Sony got involved at that early stage and pressured them into building the team a separate building from all the other ProbablyMonsters incubation studios.

What is more likely to be wrong? A tweet from a random developer in the trenches who isn't even one of the founding members of the studio? Or various press releases put together by teams of professionals from the legal and PR departments?

That we are even debating this is fucking stupid. There's no debate here. And no one fucking reply to me about it.

Who's gonna tell the investors that the guy you gave $200,000,000 to make this game doesn't even have a firm grip on the passage of time?

 

[semiconscious]

Just read the title, but something about just deeply saddens me. So much time, resources
, and talent, for that.

exactly how i feel about self-driving cars & large language models...

 

[simpatico]

Reminder:

In the span of 8 years, Bethesda made the following

- Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion
- Fallout 3
- Elder Scrolls V Skyrim
- Elder Scrolls Online

 

[Bernardougf]

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

You know what's worse/better? A game like this is so unremarkable/forgettable/mid that we won't even get the epic threads we got with something like Redfall or Starfield

 

[WoJ]

It sucks that people are going to get fired when this game fails. But I'd be lying if I wasn't hoping, just a little, that this game does even worse than Suicide Squad.

 

[Bkdk]

For years to come lol, ready to push luggages across homeless tents.

 

[Pey.]

I played it yesterday. Seems like I feel the same way since the beta. It's a genuine snorefest. It's not fun nor addictive in any way whatsoever. Can't seem to choose a main character because none of them are charismatic or appealing at all. The most tragic thing is the fact that it doesn't have an Escort mode, which should have been there like in Overwatch and XDefiant. I mean, a hero shooter with the usual PvP modes like TDM, Kill Confirmed, Domination or Headquarters don't work right. It's a horrible mix that feels totally unbalanced for a lot of heroes. I couldn't play the last two modes because there are no people to play with, but I'm guessing I'm not missing much since the last two modes are pretty similar to the others -and one of them was in the beta.

 

[Mr Moose]

You know what's worse/better? A game like this is so unremarkable/forgettable/mid that we won't even get the epic threads we got with something like Redfall or Starfield

Some people might pretend it's a GOTY contender, like Redfall.
We need our own Riky.