Sony pulls the plug on Concord and shuts down Firewalk Studios

Sony has formally killed off Harmony and is shuttering the studio behind the sport. Harmony‘s servers had been taken down simply two weeks after the launch of the aggressive crew shooter from Firewalk Studios after poor gross sales. Firewalk’s recreation director Ryan Ellis selected to maneuver himself right into a extra supportive position following Harmony‘s struggles, and Sony had stated it could think about its choices for the mission. The choice is in.

“After a lot thought, we’ve decided one of the best path ahead is to completely sundown the sport and shut the studio,” Hermen Hulst of Sony Interactive Leisure’s Studio Enterprise Group stated in an announcement right now. “I need to thank all of Firewalk for his or her craftsmanship, inventive spirit and dedication.”

The net recreation enterprise is brutal, and Harmony could have suffered for its lengthy growth time, which meant different crew shooters had already risen to prominence and outlined gamers’ expectations. Many related video games are free to play and assist themselves financially with a battle move or seasonal mannequin. Avid gamers could have balked on the $40 price ticket for a brand new property, or possibly the style was just too crowded for Harmony to muscle in.

Regardless of the causes, right now’s information marks one other troublesome chapter for the sport growth world. Firewalk Studios is an outlier for having this stage of business failure, however it’s nonetheless yet one more closure within the trade that has seen loads of turbulence lately. Layoffs and shutdowns have been , however a number of of the latest instances have been like Firewalk, which was acquired by Sony Interactive Leisure simply final spring. Netflix abruptly its AAA studio final week earlier than the crew had even introduced a mission. Microsoft three studios from the Zenimax household earlier this 12 months. As fewer events management a rising share of the video games trade, the tolerance for experimentation and slim revenue margins will probably shrink too. And this kind of sudden upheaval may turn out to be all of the extra frequent.

Replace, October 29, 2024, 2:40PM ET: Story up to date with extra context about Harmony and broader studio closure traits.