PlayStation closes Firewalk Studios, which debuted shooter game Concord in August 2024 before taking it offline, and mobile studio Neon Koi, impacting ~210 jobs

The company will also close the mobile game studio Neon Koi, which hasn't released a game, according to a blog post from Sony on Tuesday.

Bloomberg 2024-10-30 Jason Schreier

Context & Ripple Effects

Firewalk's closure follows PlayStation's decision to halt Concord sales and issue refunds shortly after its release. A subsequent report that Firewalk was in limbo after its director stepped down made the studio's status a central unresolved question.

Neon Koi adds a separate mobile setback: PlayStation is ending a studio before it shipped a game. Together, the moves extend a cost-reset pattern that had already reached several established PlayStation studios.

First-order effects

Firewalk and Neon Koi will close, affecting roughly 210 jobs; Firewalk's team will no longer operate as PlayStation's in-house studio.
PlayStation ends its ownership of the developer behind Concord and abandons Neon Koi's unreleased mobile pipeline.

Second-order effects

PlayStation must reallocate the development capacity and budgets previously assigned to Firewalk and Neon Koi, narrowing its near-term options in shooter and mobile projects.
The outcome raises the bar for internal teams pursuing new service-oriented games: Concord had already been withdrawn before the studio was closed.

Third-order effects

If this pattern continues, PlayStation's studio strategy may become more selective about funding unproven game formats, favoring clearer portfolio fit and shorter paths to validation.
Repeated cuts across both new and established teams would make PlayStation's first-party organization less expansive, even as it continues to seek games that extend engagement beyond a single console release.

The trend: PlayStation is tightening its first-party development portfolio after costly bets fail to demonstrate a durable audience or reach release.

Discussion

Gameranx Ryan Parreno on x
Sony Officially Closes The Door On Concord, As Firewalk Studios Shares Their Farewell
@firewalkstudios @firewalkstudios on x
Firewalk is signing off one last time. Firewalk began with the idea of bringing the joy of multiplayer to a larger audience. Along the way we assembled an incredible team who were able to: - Navigate growing a new startup into a team during a global pandemic: Firewalk was
@ethangach @ethangach on x
According to two sources familiar with the agreement, Concord's development deal at Firewalk Studios was $200 million. That did not include marketing, the sale of IP rights, the acquisition of the studio, or game's delayed launch. https://kotaku.com/...
@legacykillahd Michael on x
Rest in Peace to the Concord devs. No Concord 2.0 coming as Sony officially closed the studio. Also officially, $400 million down the toilet and an acquisition of Firewalk barely made it a year. Ouch.
@franmirabella Fran Mirabella III on x
Today, just over 100 days after its beta, Sony closed Firewalk Studios. Concord released its public beta on July 12th. It launched on August 20th in early access, then widely on August 23rd on PS5 and PC. On September 6th, it was taken offline and pulled from game stores. [video]
@jelly_pack Ewan on x
Genuinely astonishing how much money and human sacrifice is gambled on making videogames that can only just tread water if they reach 1-in-a-million Fortnite-level success within 48 hours of release and forever after. I can't think of anything else like it in entertainment.
@wario64 @wario64 on x
Sony has closed Neon Koi and Firewalk Studios. Concord has permanently shut down. Full internal email from Herman Hulst https://sonyinteractive.com/ ... [image]
@jwhitbrook James Whitbrook on x
absolutely, wildly wretched and cruel that Sony could completely delete Concord from existence in two weeks but spent this long hanging the sword of damocles over the head of the studio https://sonyinteractive.com/ ...
@muradmgaming GrizzlyBeardHero on x
If I was Sony I wouldn't have shut down Firewalk. There's definitely talented folks in that studio. The people weren't the problem it was the game. The direction of the game failed not the talent of the people who worked on the game. These are two different things
@jeremypenter @jeremypenter on x
Firewalk studio closed. https://sonyinteractive.com/ ...
@airbagged @airbagged on x
I personally think celebrating a bunch of people being out of a job is ghoulish even if you thought the game sucked but hey that's just me.
@lukestephenstv Luke Stephens on x
Soooo two PlayStation execs greenlight a $200,000,000 project that was doomed to fail and, when it does, one of them retires and the other gets a promotion to a position where he then fires everyone who worked on it?... Got it.
@evanreadscomics Evan Von Doom on x
I want to be so clear that the failure of this game lies solely on the shoulders of Sony and Firewalk Studios hire-ups and not on the developers who put their soul into making this game.
@chris_dring Christopher Dring on x
Sigh https://sonyinteractive.com/ ...
@tha_rami @tha_rami on x
My heart breaks for @FirewalkStudios. https://kotaku.com/...
@lordbalvin @lordbalvin on x
Sony acquired Firewalk in 2023 and shut them down in 2024. Concord is permanently shutdown. What an all time, colossal corporate fucking failure. [image]
@jasonschreier Jason Schreier on x
“After much thought, we have determined the best path forward is to permanently sunset the game and close the studio. I want to thank all of Firewalk for their craftsmanship, creative spirit and dedication.” https://sonyinteractive.com/ ...
@marioprime Giovanni Colantonio on x
Sony makes the call to go all-in on live service, but it's the studios who have to pay the price when its vision of how to execute it fails. An industry of scapegoating to protect bad top-down decision making.
@modernvintageg @modernvintageg on x
I love this industry. you get one shot and if you fuck it up your whole studio is gone.
@elderlyapple @elderlyapple on x
Gaming has become an industry where the only people who are given the opportunity to learn from their failures are those who refuse to do so.
@silcris88 Cristuna Amaya on x
:{ As a reminder our Layoff slack is about 3,000 members. You can apply to join our layoff slack. https://docs.google.com/... This is for folks affected by layoffs or who want to help folks with layoffs. Not for folks trying to break into gaming. @MooshuBeef @ItsTurnerr
r/gamecollecting r on reddit
Sony closes Concord studio and permanently shuts down the game
r/technology r on reddit
Sony is closing Firewalk Studios, the studio behind Concord
r/playstation r on reddit
Sony closes Concord studio and permanently shuts down the game

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