In a virtually unprecedented transfer, Concord, a recreation that was meant to be the subsequent step in PlayStation’s stay service push was shut down a mere two weeks after it launched.
Recreation gross sales matter for each recreation, however concurrent participant numbers solely matter for multiplayer video games. Which is what Harmony was, and all concurrent participant counts pointed to the truth that nobody was enjoying Harmony, which in fact meant not sufficient individuals had purchased in. Right out of the gate, it couldn’t even crack 700 gamers globally on Steam alone, and was a monetary failure.
Now a report from Kotaku claims the workforce at Firewalk Studios not solely stay “in limbo” whereas Sony decides what to do subsequent, and that Harmony’s recreation director Ryan Ellis has stepped down from his position, transferring right into a help position.
One of many sources Kotaku spoke to, when talking about Ellis and the way exhausting he labored on Harmony mentioned “Ryan deeply believed in that venture and bringing gamers collectively by the enjoyment in it. No matter there being issues that might have been carried out in a different way all through improvement…he’s a superb human, and stuffed with coronary heart.”
The sentiment across the studio, because the report places it, is “pessimistic” on Harmony’s return. The report additionally provides that members of the workforce are being requested to work on pitches for recreation initiatives not-Harmony, which the report identifies as “fully completely different.”
It additional provides that workers are speculating that Firewalk’s future will probably be that of a help studio for different PlayStation Studios titles, although in fact there are additionally those that concern the worst. That many, if not the complete workforce which the report says is between 150-170 individuals, will probably be laid off.
Some have even left the studio fearing the worst, it provides, whereas many others, equally to Sony, are left undecided on what to do for now.
An insightful report that probably reveals a layer of the interior story round Harmony. After a reportedly eight years in development it appears cheap to assume that the method was slowed partially attributable to a problem with the place to go subsequent the entire means as much as and, seemingly, simply past launch.
For what it’s price, Harmony did impress gamers to a sure diploma. It failed much less as a result of it was a foul recreation, and extra as a result of it wasn’t adequate to make an impression in an FPS market the place free-to-play video games rule the day.
Firewalk clearly homes proficient builders, and hopefully they gained’t be laid off, however given one other likelihood.
Supply – [Kotaku]