Concord, a PlayStation nightmare!
Concord was supposedly the next big thing for PlayStation, but things went really badly for Sony with the game. Sony Interactive Entertainment invested so much in this game, but Concord was shut down permanently 11 days after launch. Based on recent reports, the game reportedly cost four hundred million dollars to develop. Callum Moriarty, who mentioned in one of his podcasts that he had a conversation with a developer involved in Concord, further confirmed this.
Everyone has been talking about this figure ever since. However, it was initially reported as one hundred million dollars, which appears to be more than that. So what happens next since a lot of money went down the drain?
Additionally, everyone mentioned that it was similar to Star Wars and that they may potentially return to it with new games in the future. They did, however, have the hidden level episode set to appear later this year as part of the Amazon Prime program. They obviously had high hopes for it, but we can all see that someone on the inside must have known it wouldn’t pan out, too.
It seemed like everyone was too busy being kind to point out flaws in the character designs or anything else—especially since it seemed like Hermen Hulst was the one behind it—to criticize the project. Hisman is now co-CEO of PlayStation and, in essence, the head of the gaming sector.
Returning to the press statement that revealed Sony’s acquisition of Firewalk Studios, this is not a good look and is actually quite bizarre. Firewalk’s dedication to high-quality gameplay and its novel approach to integrated storytelling never ceases to amaze us. Upon seeing what Firewalk has in store for fans, I believe they will be pleasantly surprised.
Does Herman mean the weekly two-minute cinematic when we watch the characters relax on the ship as an example of the unique approach to connected storytelling? If so, he couldn’t be more mistaken. I fail to perceive that relevance to the gameplay, in which they appear out of nowhere on an undetermined map and begin shooting each other.
Even though the game had the worst launch ever—25,000 copies sold—and naturally shut down two weeks later, it’s crazy that they thought they had something here. The studio’s next venture will be a strong addition to PlayStation Studios’ collection, and its technological know-how and live service will significantly expand Play Station’s audience. We all know that Jim Ryan is no longer associated with PlayStation, but he said this when they acquired Firewalk, the studio responsible for Concorde.
Concorde’s game director made the right decision by stepping away from the project, but the creators still don’t know what to do next. Of course, it is more likely that they will be laid off and the studios will close. Still, they hope they might be assigned to another project within PlayStation Studios. It would be great if they could just transfer some of the talent to other projects. I doubt Concorde will ever return, and I don’t think we will know until the coming months. It seems unlikely to me.
