Sony President Comments on Concord Failure

Sony President Comments on Concord Failure

Key Takeaways

  • Sony is still analyzing the failure of Concord.
  • The company believes the game didn’t have enough “gates” to ensure it was in line with player expectations.
  • Sony’s “siloed” organizational structure possibly contributed to Concord’s failure, according to the company’s president, Hiroki Totoki.

As a seasoned gamer with years of experience under my belt, I can’t help but feel a tinge of sympathy for Sony and their latest venture, Concord. The game’s swift demise is a stark reminder of the unpredictable nature of the gaming industry.


As a gamer, I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for some insight from Sony President Hiroki Totoki regarding the ongoing analysis of the issues surrounding ‘Concord’. In a recent Q&A session, he hinted at some potential reasons behind the game’s unexpected outcome, which has left many of us in the gaming community curious.

On August 23, the initial and final game developed by Firewalk Studios under Sony’s umbrella was launched. However, it was deactivated only two weeks later, making Concord potentially the most expensive flop in Sony’s history for live-service projects up to that point.

Following the announcement that Concord won’t return in any capacity, Sony President and CFO Hiroki Totoki shared insights during a Q&A session post their latest earnings call. During the discussion, he mentioned that Sony is still in the learning phase about what led to the brief run of Firewalk’s hero shooter game. While offering some speculations, Totoki pointed out that any new intellectual property (IP) comes with an inherent risk and success is never guaranteed.

Concord Didn’t Have Enough ‘Gates,’ Sony President Says

The head of Sony expressed his viewpoint that Concord lacked sufficient “evaluation points” such as user testing and other assessments, and he later pointed out that the timing of these evaluations could have been an issue. He suggested that these evaluation points should have been implemented earlier in the process. It seemed that Sony didn’t realize the game might be a significant failure until the Concord open beta received minimal attention a month before the release of the hero shooter.

Sony’s Organizational Structure Likely Did Concord No Favors

Additionally, Totoki admitted that the segmented nature of Sony’s business could potentially have led to the collapse of Concord. He explained that Sony is currently organized as separate silos, implying that different departments within the company are quite insular from each other. This separation might have caused a breakdown in communication between them during the Concord project.

As a passionate gaming enthusiast, I can’t help but reflect on Sony’s journey with live-service games, particularly Concord, which unfortunately didn’t fare as well as expected, marking a significant setback in their history. However, the success of Helldivers 2, another live-service game from Sony, sold an astounding 12 million copies within its first three months, has left many curious about Sony’s approach to this genre. With Haven Studios’ Fairgames and Bungie’s Marathon in development, it will be intriguing to observe whether these titles follow the mixed fortunes of Concord or replicate the meteoric success of Helldivers 2. As we wait for more updates on their release dates, the gaming community eagerly anticipates these upcoming titles from Sony and its partners.

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2024-11-08 18:05