Concord Cost Sony as Much as One of the Worst Marvel Movies Ever Made

Sony’s attempt to break into the competitive live-service market with Concord, a sci-fi shooter developed by Firewalk Studios, ended as abruptly as it began. Just over a month after its release, Sony pulled the game from shelves and recently announced a shutdown of Firewalk Studios altogether.

Firewalk Stuido’s reported $200 million budget isn’t far off from some major Hollywood films. The level to which the game flopped reminds us of a similar high-profile flop in Hollywood. The 2023 Marvel Cinematic Universe entry The Marvels became one of the biggest failures for the studio.

Concord‘s Flop Is Up There With The Biggest In Entertainment

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The game has incredibly low player numbers. Image via Firewalk Studios

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Sony’s journey with Concord began with high hopes. Firewalk Studios, the development team, was founded in 2018 by ex-Bungie developers under the studio startup Probably Monsters. They aimed to create a multiplayer experience that would blend elements from popular shooters like Destiny 2 and Overwatch 2.

Firewalk is signing off one last time.

Firewalk began with the idea of bringing the joy of multiplayer to a larger audience. Along the way we assembled an incredible team who were able to:
– Navigate growing a new startup into a team during a global pandemic: Firewalk was…

— Firewalk (@FirewalkStudios) October 29, 2024

Seeing the potential, Sony invested over $200 million early in development, followed by a full acquisition of Firewalk Studios in 2022. Following negative feedback from beta testing and initial trailers, the game failed to gain traction in an already saturated genre. Ultimately, it sold fewer than 25,000 copies in its first week, a dismal result for Sony’s ambitious vision.

Sony’s acquisition of Firewalk Studios in 2022 had been an investment in the company’s interest in live-service games. The genre involves ongoing, frequently updated content for games designed to generate sustained revenue. But Concord’s performance would lead to an immediate reassessment of its potential.

So including everything, its could easily reach 350M-400M+.
Damn

— saruboss (@saruboss0812) October 29, 2024

Barely a month after release, Sony opted to take the game offline indefinitely, disappointing the few fans it had managed to acquire. And now with the closure of Firewalk Studios as well, we’ve gotten a new report from Kotaku that supports the $200 million budget speculation from before.

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According to Hermen Hulst, Sony’s PlayStation Studios co-CEO, the decision to sunset Concord came after extensive evaluations, with the conclusion that the studio’s resources were better focused elsewhere.

If Anyone Knows How To Learn From Failure, It’s The MCU

The reported costs for Concord reveal Sony’s ambitious gamble. Estimates suggest the initial investment in development paralleled the budget of The Marvels, one of the MCU’s lowest-grossing films.

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With a reported production budget of $274.8 million, The Marvels became a sobering example of high-cost entertainment flopping at the box office. It failed to break even and showed the volatility of high-budget projects in crowded markets.

What we’ve learned is that big financial investment does not guarantee commercial success. If the product itself is inherently then you’ll get no customers and that is exactly what happened with Concord and The Marvels. Sony could’ve put that money on so many other projects.

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Sony’s foray into live-service gaming is a reminder of the genre’s high stakes and volatility. Unlike traditional single-player games, live-service titles require a steady flow of players and ongoing content updates to remain viable.

Going forward, Sony may prioritize studios that align more closely with the core strengths of PlayStation Studios, such as crafting engaging single-player narratives that have historically been Sony’s stronghold.

What do you think of Sony’s investments going forward? Let us know in the comments!