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[poodaddy]

"one of the more expensive studios in the PlayStation portfolio on a per-head basis"

Fucking crazy. lol

Reading that, my thought was simply.... "Why?!" Unproven and inexperienced studio, brand new, no hits, no pedigree, no reputation, ....why are they paid more on average per head?

 

[Alebrije]

WHERES THE PROFESSOR???

Got a rise a the new "Director"

 

[RCX]

Shouldn't Sony be getting on with killing them? How much cash are they burning everyday?

 

[HL3.exe]

Sheesh, reads like an absolute nightmare. Imagine working on such a thing for years only for it flop this bad with so much funding pumped into it.

 

[//DEVIL//]

Such a shame, they were good people, doing good work. If only bigots didn't exist to harm people by withholding their money

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

i think the other PlayStation studios could make use of Firewalk’s character designers.

Run your character ideas past the Firewalk folks, and whatever they offer as feedback, do the exact opposite. I bet you will come up with some amazing characters that way.

 

[Flabagast]

Reading that, my thought was simply.... "Why?!" Unproven and inexperienced studio, brand new, no hits, no pedigree, no reputation, ....why are they paid more on average per head?

it was composed of former top dogs from Bungie. For some reason Sony decided to bet all in on this trash.

 

[laynelane]

I lost interest the second I saw the character designs. I think a lot of people did.

Yep, first impressions have a big impact. People didn't even want to try Concord as seen by the free beta numbers. It's funny that, despite it being one of the most talked about points, there are still so many that try to downplay the consequences of the terrible character designs.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

For some reason...

sony spend 3.6 Billion onBungie

 

[xVodevil]

Sheesh, reads like an absolute nightmare. Imagine working on such a thing for years only for it flop this bad with so much funding pumped into it.

Imagine believing this is the greatest product produced ever in the history of games ever ever and ever all that time.

 

[Punished Miku]

I think you have to be up to step down. This is more of a subterranean digging motion.

 

[cormack12]

The DEI team, the 'professor', marketing, PR, CM and whoever pushed for the wokeness or didn't raise a flag to stop it should leave too. All the people responsible for making the characters on purpose not likable to the user demographics that represents almost the total userbase of these PvP FPS / eSports / tactical shooter game types (which is aprox. over 90-95% male, over 85% cis & heterosexual, over 85% white).

They all should be replaced and the studio should continue starting by replacing all the characters using very cool, non-woke ones (minimum 80% of them designed to be appealing to men, white and heterosexual people) and using a unique (compared to the other main shooters) and very cool artstyle for the game they can use without needing to remake the environment art.

Other than these morons, most people unrelated to these woke things from game design, programming, art, animation, audio etc. did a good job so they should stay.

Who knows, maybe the that guy who left thought the woke stuff was nonsense and that was going to kill the game but he wasn't brave enough to mention it to don't be called a bigot/racist/sexist/homophobe/etc.

Pretty much, the real question is how is an experienced game director is so poorly led by underlings if that's the case.

 

[TheChumpNation]

I lost interest the second I saw the character designs. I think a lot of people did.

The character designs are definitely atrocious so fair enough. Do you think you might have been interested, even after seeing the character designs, if you were hearing positive word of mouth from others you might play the game with?

I don't play any competitive MP games really so I could easily be mistaken, but I would assume that if the game was unique and compelling otherwise it may have survived it's godawful characters.

Conversely, I think it could have the coolest character designs of all time and probably still would have flopped due to the extreme competition around it (unless it was in some way unique and compelling).

 

[larrybrady]

Get rid of the weirdos... Next the professor,it's gonna take like 5 ppl to overpower and drag that guy out of there,but I'm sure it can be done(maybe)..... There is some talent there though,I thought the tech/ graphics was decent on this game, and ppl said the gun play was better than decent.....the art team gotta go as of yesterday though and stay away from thr gaming industry

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

I think you have to be up to step down. This is more of a subterranean digging motion.

His exit is basically Round 1 of Dig Dug.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I think you have to be up to step down. This is more of a subterranean digging motion.

Its more of a we will let you retire Jim Ryan vs forcing you out type of thing

 

[adamsapple]

Such a shame, they were good people, doing good work. If only bigots didn't exist to harm people by withholding their money

 

[Denorion]

Yeah, Deadlock is in trouble. GAAS shooter space is just way too crowded and already invested in other games. Oh wait...

Are you comparing a new studio to Valve?

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

Well that explains it. Dude was too attached to his pet project. The character switching feature was monumentally retarded. I bet they had a lot of bad feedback (why play another character to make the one you like run faster?) but he BELIEVED.

Wow. A good human! Now there's a quality that has been known to absolutely guarantee success in business and art throughout history. Great artists are always good people.

Oh waaaaiiiiitttt. Right...

 

[consoul]

Herman: "You'll be removed from the director role by the end of the week. Feel free to 'step down' before then"

 

[seb85]

First one should be fired is hermen for green lighting this game

 

[Calverz]

 

[MiguelItUp]

Can you add the pertinent text to the OP? I don't want to give Kotaku a click.

For real, y'all need to stop giving them clicks.

Concord Director Steps Down As Studio Behind Historic PlayStation Flop Waits For Sony's Decision

Ryan Ellis was the hero shooter's game director at Firewalk Studios

web.archive.org

There we go.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Yep, first impressions have a big impact. People didn't even want to try Concord as seen by the free beta numbers. It's funny that, despite it being one of the most talked about points, there are still so many that try to downplay the consequences of the terrible character designs.

I can’t believe in the year 2024 we have to re-learn this lesson the hard way, that gamers want to play as cool/badass/sexy/visually distinctive characters.

You can’t just replace a hero shooter roster with a bunch of ugly, frumpy non-gendered avatars of your DEI ideology and expect it to resonate with gamers the same way.


BTW Men_in_Boxes tried to tell me that Team Fortress 2 also has bad character designs and succeeded despite that, therefore there must be some other reason for Concord’s failure. That’s the last message I saw from him before he got added to my block list.

 

[yurinka]

Pretty much, the real question is how is an experienced game director is so poorly led by underlings if that's the case.

In big corporations nowadays there are corporate wide DEI 'policies' and 'best practices guidelines' (wokeness censorship and witchhunt).

Specially in places like USA/California many people is afraid from being targeted / fired / cancelled for being called a bigot / racist / sexist / toxic etc.

As an example, the Assassin's Creed Origins director was fired and his career was over because he had a date with a fan and didn't tell her he was married. Something that should have caused an arguement with his wife (both muslim btw, he isn't white), but shouldn't have killed his career. But hit piece woke media targeted him mixing his case with the Ubisoft controversy with several supposed abuse and harassment cases etc.

 

[Trilobit]

Like I've said elsewhere: Change the characters into Playstation characters and turn it into the "SSBM" for PS. Tune the style and make it have more comicy violence.

It can't make things worse at least.

 

[Ridicululzz]

The character designs are definitely atrocious so fair enough. Do you think you might have been interested, even after seeing the character designs, if you were hearing positive word of mouth from others you might play the game with?

I don't play any competitive MP games really so I could easily be mistaken, but I would assume that if the game was unique and compelling otherwise it may have survived it's godawful characters.

Conversely, I think it could have the coolest character designs of all time and probably still would have flopped due to the extreme competition around it (unless it was in some way unique and compelling).

Yep, there's obviously a lot of focus around the character designs but the game didn't really bring anything new or unique to the field from what I've seen. It also not being f2p was a big factor when its competitors are.

 

[Punished Miku]

Like I've said elsewhere: Change the characters into Playstation characters and turn it into the "SSBM" for PS. Tune the style and make it have more comicy violence.

It can't make things worse at least.

Put all the year's worth of story shorts on Youtube and add a laugh track throughout. Monetize the video. Should get them a couple thousand bucks.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Everyone at Sony who can't give a straight answer to why this game failed should be fired on the spot.

 

[finalflame]

Shouldn't Sony be getting on with killing them? How much cash are they burning everyday?

Takes time, but I assure you a mass culling is in the works. A company as big as Sony will be working on severance and making sure they fulfill all the necessary disclosures to comply with Washington law.

ESDWAGOV - Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN)

esd.wa.gov

It's coming, though.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Whatever ends up happening, game director Ryan Ellis will not be at the helm. Formerly at Bungie where he served as creative director on Destiny 2, Ellis left in 2017 to lead development on what would eventually become Concord. He told staff at Firewalk last week that he would be stepping down from his game director role and move into a support role instead, according to three sources familiar with the change.

If this guy can keep a job, anyone in life should be able to. The ultimate posterboy for grand failure while still staying on the payroll.

Whatever support he does, who knows. But every game studio at SIE should try to keep him off their game. Support one of the other studios please.

 

[laynelane]

I can’t believe in the year 2024 we have to re-learn this lesson the hard way, that gamers want to play as cool/badass/sexy/visually distinctive characters.

You can’t just replace a hero shooter roster with a bunch of ugly, frumpy non-gendered avatars of your DEI ideology and expect it to resonate with gamers the same way.


BTW Men_in_Boxes tried to tell me that Team Fortress 2 also has bad character designs and succeeded despite that, therefore there must be some other reason for Concord’s failure. That’s the last message I saw from him before he got added to my block list.

I recently watched a video talking about character designs and Team Fortress 2 came up. I don't play it so it was really interesting to see how each character gives visual cues of what their role is - along with their distinctive outlines. The character in your icon was used as a bad example of character design in that their design gives no clue what their role is (supportive/medic iirc). So, the dislike for the characters goes beyond just aesthetics in some cases - it even impacts their utility.

Agreed about re-learning the lesson too. If people want to keep putting in their DEI approved characters, then so be it. Just don't be too surprised when the audience you are trying to 'educate' soundly rejects it.

 

[ultrazilla]

Such a shame, they were good people, doing good work. If only bigots didn't exist to harm people by withholding their money

 

[kaizenkko]

Reading that, my thought was simply.... "Why?!" Unproven and inexperienced studio, brand new, no hits, no pedigree, no reputation, ....why are they paid more on average per head?

The only explanation that I can think is: Bungie gave an extremely good feedback about the studio/project, that Jimbo/Hulst innocently accept.

I will always blame Jimbo for all that. Buying Bungie, turn PS studios in a live service games machine, all those terrible decisions are mostly his fault. I'm sure that there's others people involved in the process, but Jimbo started all this.

 

[Haint]

Reading that, my thought was simply.... "Why?!" Unproven and inexperienced studio, brand new, no hits, no pedigree, no reputation, ....why are they paid more on average per head?

HQ'ed in Seattle Washington, comprised in large part by departed veteran talent and talent poached from other studios (i.e. premium salaries). The only studios that would cost more per head would be Sony's crown jewel's in the epicenter of California, ND and SSM. I legitimately have no idea why so many industry "experts" are trying to downplay the costs of this thing and claim it was some cheap indie or AA game.

Spoiler warning, Fairgame$ is also costing them truck loads upon truck loads of money.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

"one of the more expensive studios in the PlayStation portfolio on a per-head basis"

Fucking crazy. lol

But, but, but Firewalk is full of industry vets from Bungie, Activision, Respawn etc.... Guaranteed killer game! Look at that laundry list of shooter stardom!

 

[reinking]

Can't fire me if I fire myself....

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

First one should be fired is hermen for green lighting this game

staph with the Hermen slander

 

[hemo memo]

Such a shame, they were good people, doing good work. If only bigots didn't exist to harm people by withholding their money

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Are you comparing a new studio to Valve?

Not at all. I'm just illustrating how foolish the "saturated market" argument is when we see Deadlock do crazy numbers.

 

[Z O N E]

Turns out Sony funded this game from the beginning, hence why the $250M number kept floating about...

Sony Interactive Entertainment to Acquire Firewalk Studios from ProbablyMonsters Inc

SAN MATEO, Calif., April 20, 2023 – Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (“SIE”) announced today it has entered into an agreement with ProbablyMonsters Inc. to acquire Firewalk Studios™, a studio of industry-leading creatives developing an original AAA multiplayer game for PlayStation®5 (PS5™) and...

sonyinteractive.com

"SIE has supported our team’s vision from the beginning and with the incredible creative power of the PlayStation Studio ecosystem. This exciting next step will help us transform that vision into a reality.”

Not surprised he's stepping down... Also, I doubt this studio survives. They'll now be known as the Developers of Concord... Yeah, not a prestige title.

 

[Banjo64]

Sony should put The Professor in charge just for shits and giggles.

 

[Plague Doctor]

But the modern day audience was just busy that week. COME THE FUCK ON!

This game deserves a re-release and we need the original director with their original vision!

You are losing out of hundreds, if not thousands, of potential sales!

 

[Majukun]

good to see some accountability every once in a while..sometimes hindsight is 20/20, sometimes something was kinda obvious and you should have seen it coming

 

[Portugeezer]

But the crazy lady that was writing the lore and the other crazy "professor" get to stay? not fair man.

You expect parasites to leave? They'll linger around until Sony gets rid of them.

 

[ZehDon]

For me, the real news is that this studio was one of Sony's most expensive to run. With those kinds of numbers, a failure of this magnitude is going to ripple across Sony.

 

[Plague Doctor]

Man, that Amazon Prime episode is really going to be a fucking eulogy.

 

[Majukun]

Wonder if this was the idiot that went all in for disproportionate representation, alienating 95% of the people that would've brought this shite in the first place.

designs didn't help, but concorde was still gonna be a 40 dollars alternative in a f2p dominated genre that for what i heard (i don't play the genre) is actually worse than said f2p alternatives

 

[Shakka43]

Found another article:



Source.

I prefer not to click Kotaku too. Aside from that, "he's a good human" just sounds...weird.

That just means he's not a Trump supporter. That's the scale for good and evil these days.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Turns out Sony funded this game from the beginning, hence why the $250M number kept floating about...

Sony Interactive Entertainment to Acquire Firewalk Studios from ProbablyMonsters Inc

SAN MATEO, Calif., April 20, 2023 – Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (“SIE”) announced today it has entered into an agreement with ProbablyMonsters Inc. to acquire Firewalk Studios™, a studio of industry-leading creatives developing an original AAA multiplayer game for PlayStation®5 (PS5™) and...

sonyinteractive.com

Not surprised he's stepping down... Also, I doubt this studio survives. They'll now be known as the Developers of Concord... Yeah, not a prestige title.

The studio was less than 12 people in 2019.

The 200 million number was always ridiculous.