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Kotaku: Firewalk Studios and Concord heads had a 'too good to fail mentality'

Alebrije

Member
Wild year for Sony

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Is this technically the same topic as the other thread?
we need more. We need to compensate for the people ignoring this massive historic failure.
They REALLY thought this game was going to be the end all be all but the fact that they refused to take any form of criticism, even internally, could only lead to failure. You had a free beta that only reached 2500 people and of those 2500, only 700 returned the buy the game, a problem was clearly there.
This catastrophic failure is positive on so many levels. However, the aspect of the game's direction and dismissing any criticism as 'white noise' is what I find most satisfying....Complete Market Rejection.
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Sony and the leadership at this studio faced unprecedented humiliation. There is no spin or damage control.
 
Senior management usually have no filter and say whatever's on their mind. But this time, they were all quiet?
Over the years, I have been convinced that the topic of DEI, 'woke' ideology, etc., is actually real, and that there are people in positions of power pushing this agenda at the expense of the product and consumers in order to appeal to an elusive market they’ve created in their minds (as part of the mainstream audience).

It's clear to me that the leadership at the studio and the producers at PlayStation were deliberately pushing this aspect. an echo chamber of "higher moral values"
 

Fake

Gold Member
'Too good to fail'

By who? They put their mommies to play and evaluate the game or something?


Those guys live inside a fucking bubble.



Credits are over an hour long.....


400m...
Starts to make a lot of fucking sense. Holy shit.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
That’s was obvious. They thought the game was so good it was a secret from everyone until they finally revealed it 3 months from launch.

Who needs feedback or beta tests early in the year?

The founding employees are all shooter vets and the smartest people ever!
 

recursive

Member
When your narcissm is so out of contol you make people call you the professor of course this is the case. These losers are probably sitting around blaming the failure on the "gamers" with no acknowledgement of their lunacy.
 

ZehDon

Member
… $400m? That’s Halo Infinite levels of failure. That was enough to break the DEI spell and get Bonnie Ross fired.
Shits gonna get rough.
 

Aenima

Member
I mentioned this before. Thers this thing among western devs that they see themselves above criticism, and when players call them out they attack the players with "bigots", "phobes", "cisms" white privelege, etc ,etc, not to mention the hundreds activists that infiltrated the videogame industry but hate gamers, especially if they are white and males. Literally they treat they potencial costumers like trash, forgeting that the players are the ones with the money that will ensure they have a job for a next project. Meanwhile in Asia thers this oposite mentality when the devs do everething they can to please they players.

Luckly the players "woke" up and started voting with they wallets and now all these activists sucking the joy out of games are starting to feel the pain. I have absolute no simpaty for anyone that loses a job while working in the videogame industry at the same time they go on twitter say they hate gamers. Get rekt.
 

MayauMiao

Member
Also not surprised at the whole "toxic positivity" narrative surrounding the company. This is what always happens in woke DEI environments. You cant criticize anything without being labelled an ist or a phobe, so people just learn to keep their mouths shut.
Its the classic Emperor Has No Clothes story where everyone was convinced everything was fine within the Firewalk Studios castle until the game starts showing up in public.
 

mitch1971

Gold Member
Who would of thought that people who's culture is to shut down anyone who doesn't agree, making themselves so inept at civil discussion, would be a problem.
 

Buggy Loop

Gold Member
Seriously, how is this possible? I'm so confused. Didn't any of the higher-ups take a look at those awful character designs and say something? Not even one?

What??? and be cancelled because the artists go to HR and claim they are bullies and now have PTSD from the nasty comment a Sony manager said?

That's what happened

Culture of silence

Now most likely many many studios are infected by this. DEI hires everywhere.

Concord is the tip of the iceberg, I tell ya.

Kotaku can fuck off btw. They are part of the problem.
 
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It must be including the purchase of the studio.

If that's the number Moriarty's heard because it's what's being thrown around internally, the studio will get shut down, and someone's job at PlayStation leadership is forfeit.
According to the video the 400 million does not include the purchase of the studio.
 

StereoVsn

Member
I thought they were around 90-100.
Haven't played any of them but they all look spectacular. Planning on buying PS5 just for those and Astrobot.

Still trying to understand how on earth this Concord thing looking as ugly as it looked had a budget over 200m... (Now seems it's over 400...)
Labor in China, Korea or even Japan is a lot cheaper vs Seattle. Not to mention benefits, office rental and so on.

Plus it seems a lot of cost was outside contractors or other Sony studios.
 

lmimmfn

Member
Words are fu@@ed, "toxic positivity" WTF does that even mean? Only understanding I have is that it was racist, pro everything but the white man or beautiful female form, and woke
 

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Also not surprised at the whole "toxic positivity" narrative surrounding the company. This is what always happens in woke DEI environments. You cant criticize anything without being labelled an ist or a phobe, so people just learn to keep their mouths shut.
This is not categorically true. I currently work at a pretty progressive organization, and I have no issues offering or receiving criticism. I’m a white dude and I’ve never been negatively labeled like that. We support good ideas, and shit on bad ideas all the time. Just to play a bit of devil’s advocate, here.
 

Ozzie666

Member
Too good to fail? feels like spin and not addressing the real issues? The game was so plagued by agendas and the leaders modern views that they refused to listen to anything. Not a question of being 'too good' its about being to stuck up and righteous in your believes. Wasn't this their first game? how can they be too good at anything.

I call bullshit and it's a puff piece ignoring the real issues here and we all know whay they are.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I mentioned this before. Thers this thing among western devs that they see themselves above criticism, and when players call them out they attack the players with "bigots", "phobes", "cisms" white privelege, etc ,etc, not to mention the hundreds activists that infiltrated the videogame industry but hate gamers, especially if they are white and males. Literally they treat they potencial costumers like trash, forgeting that the players are the ones with the money that will ensure they have a job for a next project. Meanwhile in Asia thers this oposite mentality when the devs do everething they can to please they players.

Luckly the players "woke" up and started voting with they wallets and now all these activists sucking the joy out of games are starting to feel the pain. I have absolute no simpaty for anyone that loses a job while working in the videogame industry at the same time they go on twitter say they hate gamers. Get rekt.
Whats dumb is that the evil white dude is going to be their largest money spending audience. It should be the last one to piss off.

And even dumber, these wacky devs should all look in the mirror because every western wokey dev touting political BS are mostly made of of white people. And still mostly guys too. Just check out any company photo of them all standing in the lobby and I'd ballpark 90% are white people, and probably 70-80% guys. That skew is way beyond the US demographic of gender and ethnic background.

So not surprisingly, the people who tout bullshit are actually the bullshitters to start it off. A McDonalds in the middle of Idaho probably has more diversity working the fryers and cash registers.
 
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Fess

Member
Also not surprised at the whole "toxic positivity" narrative surrounding the company. This is what always happens in woke DEI environments. You cant criticize anything without being labelled an ist or a phobe, so people just learn to keep their mouths shut.
Spot on. Ends up as a bubble of yes sayers. Goes for any closed bubble, especially politically driven. Everyone who isn’t inside the bubble can see the problems but nobody think it’s worth mention it because of how aggressive those inside usually are if you’re critical.
Here we have platform bubbles. Elsewhere it’s woke. Can be left/right politics. Religions. Free speech is great but rare unless you like getting lashed at.
 

geary

Member
At what point is the CEOs of the publishers are gonna step in? When they get a status of a project they have to realize in what direction is goining…They seem to not care about the finacial result of the project. In this case i am talking about the Sony higher-ups…Independency of a studio is one thing, burning money is another.
 
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Nickolaidas

Member
Toxic positivity almost sounds like giving every kid a trophy that led to creating the most entitled fucking generation ever.

I am sorry but sometimes people have to be told no.
I'll take it one step further and say that people need to be shamed and ridiculed in order to understand when their choices/lifestyle are taking them down a path they shouldn't be taking.

Case in point, Lizzo.
weren't all the mainstream journos at places like kotaku, blaming the evil bad bigotted gamers for the games failure?

they don't get the right to write articles now about the actual fuckups at the studio, you can't play defense weenies and then now that it's ok to dislike concord, go and actually do journalism.
Can't wait for Kotaku to call Eve an amazing deep character and a symbol for empowering women everywhere when Stellar Blade 2 comes out.
 

leizzra

Member
Toxic positivity is a problem of many studios, especially those with corporation structures. When you try to speak about problems you are being ignored. If you try hard then they’ll push you out from the company. It’s very short sighted approach and destructive but this is how corporations work. There aren’t any problems just challenges, etc.

I know at least few studios that are like that, some of them are beloved by gamers.
 

Gambit2483

Member
Toxic positivity is a problem of many studios, especially those with corporation structures. When you try to speak about problems you are being ignored. If you try hard then they’ll push you out from the company. It’s very short sighted approach and destructive but this is how corporations work. There aren’t any problems just challenges, etc.

I know at least few studios that are like that, some of them are beloved by gamers.
Toxic positivity is a product of feminism or more specifically women.

I hate to say it but (alot of, not all) women are more worried about their "feelings" and "emotions" to handle genuine criticism, constructive or otherwise. So they create "safe spaces", echo chambers and bubbles to protect them and their feelings from outside criticism and differing opinions.

It wouldn't be so bad if they left this thinking to their personal lives, but no...they brought it into their professional lives where millions of dollars and thousands of livelihoods are on the line.
 
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