Concord has become one of PlayStation's most infamous failures in recent memory, but Sony Interactive CEO Hermen Hulst says the company won't make the same mistakes again. Some of Sony's most noteworthy games are single-player experiences like The Last of Us and God of War, but the company has leaned into live service recently. While that didn't go the way PlayStation expected with Concord, it remains optimistic about its future in this space.
PlayStation's ill-fated hero shooter failed to make much of an impression on fans from the start. Less than a month after its release, Concord shut down on September 6, 2024, and Sony closed its developer, Firewalk Studios, not long after. Now, the head of the company's video game division has offered some insight into why things went wrong for the game and what it means for PlayStation's future.
PlayStation Doubles Down on Live Service Plans
Despite several major blunders, PlayStation remains committed to its live-service plans, with a number of titles currently in the works.
In a Q&A session for Sony investors, Hulst said "some really big effort" went into Concord, but it ultimately failed because it "entered a hyper-competitive segment of the market" without enough to differentiate it from other titles. That sentiment largely echoes what others have said about the game. Fans criticized it for feeling bland upon its reveal, and Marvel Rivals director Thaddeus Sasser said Concord failed because it didn't add unique value to the hero shooter genre. Live service games are everywhere today, so any game hoping to stand out among the crowd must offer some original twist or value statement, even when it has the backing of a major company like Sony.
Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Says PlayStation Has Learned from Concord's Failure
Hulst went on to say PlayStation has reflected on its process after Concord's failure and assured investors that "we’re not gonna make the same mistakes again." While he remained vague about specific steps, the Sony boss explained that the company has introduced a more intense process for questioning its assumptions about what will be a good opportunity. He also reaffirmed PlayStation's live service commitment, citing Helldivers 2 as an example of the genre done right. Indeed, Helldivers 2's player count surged after its latest update, so Sony has been able to maintain a solid player base with that title.
At the same time, there have been plenty of concerns around Bungie's upcoming live service shooter, Marathon. Some fans have branded Marathon as "Concord 2.0," and early feedback from alpha testers has been mixed. Still, Hulst says the company is monitoring these responses and is learning from them to "constantly improve" the game. How that will turn out for Marathon and future PlayStation live service games is uncertain for now, but the executive suite seems confident in its new strategy.
- Date Founded
- May 7, 1946
- Headquarters
- Minato City, Tokyo, Japan
- Subsidiaries
- Sony Pictures, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Imagesoft, Sony Online Entertainment
- Consoles
- PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PSP
- Known For
- PlayStation