A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios

Jon Weisnewski, the Lead Character Designer for Firewalk Studios’ Concord claims the game being “shipped at all is legendary” after the game was shut down in less than two weeks.

A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios

Firewalk Studios Game Director Ryan Ellis announced at the beginning of September that Concord was getting shut down on September 6th and that the company had ceased selling digital copies of the game. Furthermore, he revealed the company would offer full refunds for players who had purchased the game.

He wrote on the official PlayStation Blog, “At this time, we have decided to take the game offline beginning September 6, 2024, and explore options, including those that will better reach our players.”

“While we determine the best path ahead, Concord sales will cease immediately and we will begin to offer a full refund for all gamers who have purchased the game for PS5 or PC,” Ellis added. “If you purchased the game for PlayStation 5 from the PlayStation Store or PlayStation Direct, a refund will be issued back to your original payment method.”


A screenshot of the character Bazz in Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios

Ironically, this announcement came after Weisnewski had informed PC Gamer that he and the Firewalk Studios team were “Strapped in and ready to push it for years to come.”

The game did not make it two weeks given very few people purchased the game. The game only hit a peak concurrent player count of just 697 on Steam while PSNProfiles indicated there were only 1,377 owners total.

A screenshot of PSNProfiles.com showing the First Takedown achievement for Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios

Now, following the announcement shut down Weisnewski wrote on X, “To all the players who showed up for Concord: thank you. The positivity and constructive feedback in the face of overwhelming noise was huge for everyone at Firewalk. Building a positive community was why we did this. We saw you. Every stream, post, thread, emoji, we saw it all.”

Jon Weisnewski on X

He followed that up writing, “Firewalk is packed with tenacious fighters. Multiple acquisitions, an engine upgrade (UE 4 > 5), global pandemic, project delays… The fact we shipped at all is legendary. None of us know what’s next but I do know this team is capable of WILD ENERGY when faced with a challenge.”

Jon Weisnewski on X

While a number of gamers shared their appreciation for the game, many made it clear that Weisnewski’s character designers were a major part of why the game failed and was ultimately scrapped in less than two weeks after its release.

ArmoredRoar wrote, “You made dollar store overwatch with the 99 cent store guardians of the galaxy. Anyone with 2 functional brain cells knew this game was toast from the drop. Your team had 8 years and you came up with that. You need to take a good, hard look at this catastrophic failure and ask the single most important question you can ask. What went wrong? Not blame the audience who never showed up or the one that hated the designs from the drop, ask yourselves why didn’t this game land with Anyone but the tiny minority of woke psychopaths. Then, and only then, you might be able to make something worth playing!”

ThatGuyPyros wrote, “Gamers don’t care about the struggle of development. It doesn’t matter how hard it was or what challenges you went through. All we care about is the end result. You were in charge of these character designs, and you didn’t do your job. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.”

 

Thornoxis wrote, “8 years and that’s the best you could come up with, 8 years to think of character designs, and you created some of the most ugly, bland, boring designs that’s ever been seen in a video game. You’ve got to be kidding lol. Imagine still thinking it’s a good game.”

 

Wjtkiv bluntly stated, “Y’all shipped a game so bad it’s being fully refunded and shutdown. Should’ve just been cancelled but now you have PlayStation a black eye. Good job.”

 

What do you make of Weisnewski’s comments?