LogInSIE has permanently shut down Firewalk, shattering all hopes that Concord might return as a F2P title.
Sony
In a move one could only describe as a long time coming, Sony Interactive Entertainment has officially shut down Firewalk Studios, the developer behind 2024's most infamous hero shooter considered by many to be one of the worst AAA titles of all time, Concord.
According to Sony's official statement, the studio was closed as part of the company's long-term business strategy, following two months of deliberation that began in early September, after Concord was shut down less than two weeks after its launch. While "certain aspects of Concord were exceptional," SIE's Hermen Hulst writes, "others did not land with enough players," which ultimately led to the studio being sunset. As a metaphorical silver lining, Sony emphasized that it aims to find new roles for some of Firewalk's ex-developers within its other studios where possible.
"The PvP first person shooter genre is a competitive space that's continuously evolving, and unfortunately, we did not hit our targets with this title," reads the announcement. "We will take the lessons learned from Concord and continue to advance our live service capabilities to deliver future growth in this area."
Shortly after Firewalk's demise was made official, the studio itself issued a farewell statement of its own, thanking former developers and Concord fans for their support and highlighting some of the studio's accomplishments over the years.
In its write-up, published on Twitter of all places, Firewalk described Concord as a "great FPS experience to players – even if it landed much more narrowly than hoped," an understatement that, combined with the game's overall reputation, led many Twitter commenters to celebrate the studio's downfall, taking what I can only assume to be the one last laugh at the gaming and financial disaster that was Concord.
With Firewalk, and by extension Concord, now officially dead, only one question remains: what were those SteamDB backend updates the game was receiving throughout late September and early October?
In case you missed my October 9 report, it was discovered that Concord had been getting daily updates since September 29, leading many to believe that the game was gearing up for a comeback, likely as a free-to-play title addressing the many issues raised by the community. The very next day, on October 10, the final releases were deployed, only to stop afterward, with just a minor legal tweak made on October 16.
Whatever the updates were for, it seems Firewalk has taken this secret to its grave, adding to the list of unexplained Concord mysteries – like who thought releasing a generic hero shooter for $40 was a good idea, or how much money was actually spent on the title's development and marketing.
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