According to a novel report, following the closure of Firewalk Studios Concord, the game’s developers are now “in limbo,” with game director Ryan Ellis stepping down from a “supporting role.”
Since PlayStation made the decision to pull the plug on the game on September 6 following a launch that saw low player counts and sales estimates, there has been a lot of speculation about whether the game could be brought back in a different state at a later date, perhaps as a free-to-play title. Well, it seems that Sony itself is still considering its options.
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According to the report from My cityEllis, the former original director of Destiny 2 who signed on to lead the project in 2017, informed staff last week that he was moving from his previous position to a “support role.”
“Ryan believed deeply in the project and brought players together through the joy of it,” one former developer said of Ellis. “Regardless of the things that could have been done differently during development… he’s a good person and has a heart.”
As Kotaku reports, at the moment the Firewalk staff is unsure what the future holds for them and the studio, as Sony apparently doesn’t know whether and how it wants to continue working with Concord or direct its efforts elsewhere.
In addition to reports that some have been asked to “look at proposals” for another project for the studio to work on, others at the studio speculate that it could end up co-developing another Sony title, and some “believe the most likely outcome of Concord failing will be mass layoffs, including the possible closure of the entire studio.”
“Concord fans – we’ve been listening closely to your feedback since the launch of Concord on PlayStation 5 and PC, and we want to thank everyone who joined the journey on Northstar,” Ryan Ellis wrote in a post on the PlayStation Blog announcing Concord’s closure. “Your support and the passionate community that has grown around the game means the world to us.
“However, while many features of the experience have resonated with players, we also recognize that other aspects of the game and our initial launch have not delivered the results we expected. Therefore, at this time, we have decided to retire the game as of September 6, 2024, and explore options, including those that will better reach our players.”
