Downward flight of Concord - Sony’s flop video game

Evanne Evans, 03 Jul 2025

Developed by Firewalk Studios, Concord was a 2024 multiplayer first-person hero shooter game published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Set in a retro-futuristic sci-fi world, the game centered on battles between teams featuring humans and humanoid aliens, set in a galaxy called The Wilds.

Immediately after its release, the game received negative reviews from critics, coinciding with unprecedentedly low sales, which made it difficult to justify the costs of its development, which spanned over eight years. As a result, Concord was shut down within just two weeks after its launch.

Concord was the only game developed by Firewalk Studios, a studio located in Bellevue, Washington, and founded in 2018. Sony later announced the closure of Firewalk Studios, and all copies of the game that were sold were refunded to customers.

Insider reports claimed that the development of the game cost millions to fund, with its original intention being to expand into a massive franchise similar to Star Wars. However, a toxic workplace culture meant that critical feedback was ignored, contributing to one of many reasons the game was a total flop.

However, not everyone had a distaste for the game, with Push Square rating it seven out of ten, suggesting that “Concord has the bones of a fun multiplayer game, but it’s missing the meat.” In contrast, other video game critics rated it either a 3-star experience or an uninspiring 45 out of 100.

When the game was released, it didn’t exceed 700 simultaneous players via the Steam game streaming platform, and the market saturation of free online games, such as Overwatch 2 and Valorant, also didn’t help.

Concord’s complete commercial defeat was publicised globally and currently ranks as one of the biggest failures in video game history.