Sony withdraws video game “Concord”; subsidiary says launch “did not go as we intended”

Sony has decided to withdraw video games Unity not even two weeks after its release.

The multiplayer shooter failed to gain a foothold after its debut on PlayStation 5 and PC on August 23. Ryan Ellis, game director at Firewalk Studios, which was acquired by Sony Interactive in 2023, confirmed the decision in a blog post on Tuesday.

“While many aspects of the game have resonated well with players, we also recognize that other aspects of the game and our initial launch have not resonated as we intended,” Ellis wrote. “As such, at this time we have decided to take the game offline starting September 6, 2024 and explore options, including ones that better reach our players.”

According to the post, anyone who purchases the game will be offered a full refund of the purchase price.

Similar to popular games like Brave And Watch, Unity Gameplay reportedly took eight years to develop, and according to various third-party online game trackers, it never really took off, peaking at around 660 concurrent users, which is just a fraction of what the best multiplayer games attract.

The financial investment in a major game title, which can easily run into the tens of millions, can put a strain on a company’s finances given the additional marketing costs associated with the launch. In August, David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, described the performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League “disappointing”, especially compared to the industry-leading results for Hogwarts Legacy in the same period in 2023. Given Sony Corp.’s unique and multi-layered structure, which mixes hardware and entertainment with gaming, it is difficult to estimate the impact of a misstep like Unitybut at least it seems to be a missed opportunity.