'Concord' Director Reportedly Steps Down Following Sony's Major Flop

Concord director Ryan Ellis reportedly stepped down following Sony's major commercial flop two weeks ago.

The not-so-surprising decision came after Concord failed to meet expectations and was unable to attract enough players to justify support for it. The situation also forced developer Firewalk Studios' fate to be in limbo while waiting for Sony's next move.

Concord Director Steps Down

Ellis' decision to step down means that he will no longer be at the helm whatever Sony's decision with the studio will be. He formerly served as creative director on Destiny 2 with Bungie before leaving in 2017.

Last week, he said that he planned to step down from his game director role with Concord and move into a support role. Being the director, Ellis was the main shot caller with Sony's sci-fi hero shooter.

Despite praise for the game's underlying shooter gameplay feel, it failed to attract a big enough audience across the community. Some people have estimated that the ill-fated game was only able to sell roughly 25,000 copies, according to Kotaku.

These are significantly low numbers given how big a budget it had and the PlayStation first-party brand it represented. Sony acquired developer Firewalk Studios last year for an undisclosed sum.

Concord spent nearly a decade in development and Sony promoted the sci-fi shooter during the PlayStation showcase last year and this year. One former dev said that Ellis deeply believed in the project and bringing players together through the joy in it.

The title was a premium game worth $40 that competed in a sea of free-to-play hero shooters. This made it stand out among its peers but for all the wrong reasons. Furthermore, Concord was only available for PlayStation 5 and PC, WCCFTech said.

Sony's Major Commercial Flop

While Firewalk Studios is waiting for Sony's next move, reports note that some developers have been "asked to explore pitches for something completely different." Some employees are apparently refreshing their portfolios in anticipation of potential job cuts.

Following Concord's major commercial failure, some staff have reportedly left the company. Ellis' blog post did not explain what would be next for Firewalk Studios or the game itself. It only details that players who bought the game will be able to get a refund.

While many people are blaming Concord's $40 price tag as the main reason for its flop, it wasn't the only issue. Some also argued that Sony's sci-fi hero shooter wasn't really that great of a game overall, according to PCGamer.