Concord director reportedly steps down as studio awaits Sony decision on game's future

[Cpvr]

Concord game director Ryan Ellis has reportedly stepped down after the beleaguered 5v5 shooter was yanked offline amid apparently disastrous sales, with staff at developer Firewalk Studios said to be in limbo while they await Sony's decision on the future of the game.

 

Concord was removed from sale earlier this month, just two weeks after its launch on PS5 and PC, with Sony offering full refunds to players. In a statement released at the time, Ellis wrote, "While many qualities of the experience resonated with players, we also recognise that other aspects of the game and our initial launch didn't land the way we'd intended."

Ellis added that Firewalk would "explore options" and "determine the best path ahead" once the game was offline, but no further statements have been issued since then. According to Kotaku, however, staff at Firewalk have remained "in limbo" in the two weeks following Concord's shutdown as they wait for a decision on both the game and the studio's future.

 

Kotaku says there's also speculation among staff that Sony may decide to set Firewalk to work co-developing one of its many other first-party projects - although "a few" employees have reportedly already preemptively exited the studio, while others are waiting to see what a potential severance package may look like before making a decision.

As for Ellis - who previously served as creative director on Destiny 2 - he reportedly told staff last week he would be stepping down from his current role as game director and moving into a support role. "Ryan deeply believed in that project and bringing players together through the joy in it," one former developer told Kotaku. "Regardless of there being things that could have been done differently throughout development...he's a good human, and full of heart."

 

source: Eurogamer

[Lens]

I sense some kind of severe issues due to Concord's swift removal and Ryan Ellis' departure .The game is actually struggling and sales are very disappointing as well. 

 

[killamch89]

That’s rough for Firewalk, especially since it’s their first big project under Sony. Concord would have fared better with a different launch approach or more development time. Maybe the studio's expertise would be better used co-developing a title like a new Destiny spinoff. Overall though, Concord was a massive flop and I bet Sony hasn't learned anything from this and will push for another generic live-service looter shooter.

[Button]

I think Concord's fate serves as a reminder of live-service games' challenges and we need to also know that rushed launches and unrealistic expectations can affect a very  promising title.