As a seasoned gamer with decades of experience under my belt, I’ve seen my fair share of high-profile video game failures, but none quite as monumental as the downfall of Concord. With a reported budget of an eye-watering $400 million, it’s hard not to feel a pang of sympathy for Sony, who seemingly sunk a small fortune into this ambitious project.
Earlier this month, Concord abruptly stopped functioning, a mere two weeks after its release. Sony chose to reimburse everyone who bought the game (a relatively small number, as per estimates), marking one of the most significant and high-profile flops we’ve witnessed for PlayStation’s in-house collection. New details about the ill-fated venture appear to have surfaced, revealing the enormous amount of money spent on its development.
According to Colin Moriarty, founder of Last Stand Media, the game Concord reportedly had an approximately $400 million budget, with Sony allegedly accounting for most of this amount, making it the most expensive first-party PlayStation release in terms of budget ever. In contrast, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was said to have a budget of $315 million, while The Last of Us Part 2 and Horizon Forbidden West each had budgets totaling $200 million, as claimed by Moriarty on the Sacred Symbols podcast based on information from a developer who worked on the game.
Reportedly, by January 2023, when Concord reached its alpha development phase, approximately $200 million had already been invested in the game. However, despite this substantial investment, the game was criticized as being poorly developed at that time, with crucial components such as onboarding and monetization yet to be addressed – a fact acknowledged since it was announced in May of the previous year.
Notably, additional tasks needed to be delegated to external production facilities. In order to bring the game up to a satisfactory level of quality, Sony opted to invest an extra $200 million at this stage. Later on, Moriarty asserts that this total investment of $400 million does not account for the expenses incurred by Sony when they purchased Firewalk Studios, the Concord developer, a transaction that took place last April.
According to Moriarty’s account, Concord’s growth faced challenges due to an overabundance of optimism, which resulted in constructive criticism being disregarded. Reportedly, high-ranking officials at PlayStation, including Hermen Hulst, the current co-CEO, were convinced that the game could become a significant triumph for the company, potentially reaching the fame of a franchise like Star Wars. It was said within the company that the game represented the future of PlayStation.
Before Concord was taken offline, it was reported that the game only sold around 25,000 copies at launch. Since then, Sony has not provided any updates about the game’s or Firewalk Studio’s future.
According to the latest news, Ryan Ellis, who served as the director of Concord, has resigned after the decision to close the game. You can find out more about this development by clicking here.
I had an extended conversation with someone who was part of the Concord project team. What’s concerning is that it’s far more problematic than one might initially assume. Inside, it was known as “The Future of PlayStation,” boasting Star Wars-like potential, but a pervasive culture of “toxic positivity” stifled any constructive criticism, ultimately resulting in a $400 million price tag.
— Colin Moriarty (@longislandviper) September 20, 2024
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2024-09-20 20:11