Sony's CEO Commented on Concord's Failure. Hiroki Totoki Explains What Went South and Pledges Lessons Learned

As a seasoned gamer with decades of experience under my belt, I can’t help but feel a pang of disappointment when yet another promising title bites the dust. Concord, once hailed as the next big thing, has proven to be a colossal flop, leaving gamers and developers alike scratching their heads.


It seems that Concord, this year’s most significant gaming disappointment, might have set an all-time record for flops within the industry. The game’s servers were deactivated only 11 days following its release, and last week, Firewalk Studios – the team behind the project – was shut down, effectively ending any speculation about a potential comeback in a revised format. In a recent financial briefing, one of Sony’s CEOs, Hiroki Totoki, addressed this failure.

According to Totoki, Sony is still figuring out its way around the field of games-as-a-service and occasionally, this may lead to failures. When it comes to a fresh brand such as Concord, there’s always uncertainty about whether it will be a success or not.

Nevertheless, the company aims to learn from this setback. Toki suggests that the Concord tests were initiated too close to the launch date. To prevent similar issues with future games of this nature, both internal staff and players should be involved in the development process much earlier on. This will enable the team to identify any potential missteps at an early stage and make necessary corrections promptly.

In addition, Totoki points out that one of Sony’s challenges lies in its structure, as it consists of numerous separate departments and groups. To address this issue, fostering improved communication and collaboration among these entities will be crucial for Sony’s future success.

During the same investor discussion, Sony Vice President Sadahiko Hayakawa highlighted that this year, Sony had launched two game-as-a-service offerings. Unfortunately, “Concord” failed to gain traction, but “Helldivers 2” was a resounding success. These experiences served as valuable lessons for the company, and the insights gleaned from their analysis will be disseminated across all Sony developer studios.

Hayakawa emphasized that Sony’s abandonment of gaming services due to Concord’s failure isn’t a certainty. He explained that Sony requires both traditional single-player games and more unpredictable multiplayer titles in their lineup for a balance. The former offers a more stable financial outlook, while the latter, although riskier, offers potentially greater financial returns.

  1. Concord on Steam

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2024-11-08 17:31