The Daily Populous Friday September 20th, 2024 morning edition
Authored by eurogamer.net and submitted by YouAreNotMeLiar

Concord game director Ryan Ellis has reportedly stepped down after the beleaguered 5v5 shooter was yanked offline amid apparently disastrous sales, with staff at developer Firewalk Studios said to be in limbo while they await Sony's decision on the future of the game.

Concord was removed from sale earlier this month, just two weeks after its launch on PS5 and PC, with Sony offering full refunds to players. In a statement released at the time, Ellis wrote, "While many qualities of the experience resonated with players, we also recognise that other aspects of the game and our initial launch didn't land the way we'd intended."

Ellis added that Firewalk would "explore options" and "determine the best path ahead" once the game was offline, but no further statements have been issued since then. According to Kotaku, however, staff at Firewalk have remained "in limbo" in the two weeks following Concord's shutdown as they wait for a decision on both the game and the studio's future.

Three sources told Kotaku employees are "pessimistic" Concord will return, with some having already been asked to explore pitches the studio might work on next. Some are said to believe mass layoffs are on the cards for the Sony-owned Firewalk - which employs around 150-170 people - given the studio is reportedly one of the most expensive under PlayStation's watch on a per-head basis.

Kotaku says there's also speculation among staff that Sony may decide to set Firewalk to work co-developing one of its many other first-party projects - although "a few" employees have reportedly already preemptively exited the studio, while others are waiting to see what a potential severance package may look like before making a decision.

As for Ellis - who previously served as creative director on Destiny 2 - he reportedly told staff last week he would be stepping down from his current role as game director and moving into a support role. "Ryan deeply believed in that project and bringing players together through the joy in it," one former developer told Kotaku. "Regardless of there being things that could have been done differently throughout development...he's a good human, and full of heart."

Firewalk was acquired by Sony last year, as part of a massive live-service push under former PlayStation boss Jim Ryan. The response to Concord, Firewalk's debut game, was lukewarm at best, with industry analysts estimating it sold less that 25,000 copies across PS5 and PC.

ChiefBr0dy on September 19th, 2024 at 23:27 UTC »

Pretend it's completely cancelled then just completely overhaul the visual ID over many months - keeping the core gameplay mechanics intact underneath. Relaunch with new name and a battle pass.

BusinessOwner199X on September 19th, 2024 at 21:14 UTC »

At least we have that cool Concord episode in Secret Level coming soon. /sarcasm

Easy-Preparation-234 on September 19th, 2024 at 20:58 UTC »

Bro I don't think free to play is gonna save that game

Might as well just cut there loses

Even trying to milk what little they can by going free to play just seems like it might cost more money than it will make

Ya know if only 70 people end up playing it after it goes free to play, even if they spend a thousand dollars each it probably wouldn't even cover how much it cost in labor and advertising just to get to that point