It’s been two weeks since Sony announced it was taking the unprecedented step of unreleasing Concord and almost as long since the ill-fated, sci-fi hero shooter was officially taken offline. In the time since, Kotaku understands that developers at Firewalk Studios have been in limbo about their future as they await Sony’s decision about what comes next for Concord and the team.
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.
Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ellis was the main shot caller on Concord, which despite praise for its underlying shooter gameplay feel, failed to attract an audience, with analyst Simon Carless estimating to IGN that the $US40 PVP-only game had sold only around 25,000 copies, abysmal numbers given not just its budget but the PlayStation first-party brand it represented. Sony acquired Firewalk in 2023 for an undisclosed sum after the game had spent years in production and promoted Concord at both that year’s May PlayStation showcase and its 2024 one.
“Ryan deeply believed in that project and bringing players together through the joy in it,” said one former developer, who said he felt Ellis had poured a great deal of himself into the game, leading to a ton of stress. “Regardless of there being things that could have been done differently throughout development…he’s a good human, and full of heart.”
Sources told Kotaku that Ellis was too emotional to speak at points during a post-launch studio-wide meeting after it had become clear that the game was bombing. In a September 3 PlayStation Blog post announcing Concord’s removal from store shelves, Ellis wrote, “aspects of the game and our initial launch didn’t land the way we’d intended.” He added that the team would “explore options, including those that will better reach our players” and work to “determine the best path ahead.”
Some outsiders speculated that Concord might relaunch near the end of this year or early in 2025 as a PS Plus exclusive or free-to-play game in order to get more players to try it. The game’s existing content roadmap extended through three seasons, complete with the promise of expensive weekly cutscenes telling the story of Concord’s world and characters.
But for many within the studio, it’s still not clear what will come next, three sources told Kotaku. They are pessimistic Concord will return, and some have been asked to explore pitches for something completely different that Firewalk, which is currently around 150-170 employees, might work on next. Speculation among some staff has also included whether the studio could be used as co-development on one of Sony’s myriad other first-party projects currently in production.
Others, however, feel like mass layoffs will be the most likely result of Concord’s failure, including the possible shutdown of the entire studio, which sources tell Kotaku is one of the more expensive studios in the PlayStation portfolio on a per-head basis. Some developers are updating their resumes and portfolios, a few have already preemptively exited the studio, and others are waiting to see what a potential severance package will look like before deciding what to do next.
Sony instituted deep cuts earlier this year, which included the cancellation of multiple games and the closure of its PlayStation London Studio. But with its competitor Microsoft recently laying off another 650 people from its Xbox gaming division, and the end of another fiscal quarter looming, more cuts could still be coming.
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