PlayStation announced an agreement to acquire Firewalk Studios on April 20, 2023, while the Bellevue studio was developing an unnamed original AAA multiplayer game for PS5 and PC. The game was identified as Concord the following month. In September 2024, PlayStation took Concord offline; Sony later announced Firewalk’s closure and the game’s discontinuation.
What PlayStation announced in April 2023
Sony Interactive Entertainment said it had entered into an agreement to acquire Firewalk Studios from ProbablyMonsters. The acquisition announcement described Firewalk as a Bellevue-based studio formed in 2018 and said it was “developing an original AAA multiplayer game for PlayStation®5 (PS5™) and PC.” The announcement did not name the game. Sony’s April 20, 2023 announcement did not disclose a purchase price.
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The acquisition followed an existing relationship: PlayStation and Firewalk had announced a publishing partnership for a new original multiplayer IP on April 22, 2021. Sony’s 2023 announcement therefore described a change in the relationship, from publisher to owner, rather than the start of PlayStation’s involvement with the project. The 2021 partnership announcement established the earlier connection.
What game was Firewalk making?
PlayStation named the project Concord on May 24, 2023. In a PlayStation Blog reveal, Firewalk Game Director Ryan Ellis described it as a new PvP multiplayer first-person shooter for PS5 and PC. The reveal post is the point at which the previously unnamed acquisition project was publicly identified as Concord.
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That sequence matters: the April acquisition release said only that Firewalk was developing an original AAA multiplayer game. It did not announce the name Concord or provide a forecast of the game’s eventual performance.
Why did PlayStation acquire Firewalk?
Sony framed the deal as part of PlayStation Studios’ investment in live-service games and expansion across platforms. Its announcement said Firewalk would collaborate with teams including Bungie and Haven Interactive Studios. Those statements describe Sony’s rationale and planned collaboration at the time; they do not establish that the acquisition achieved a particular commercial result.
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How Sony said the studio would operate
Sony said Firewalk’s day-to-day operations would continue to be run by studio management after the acquisition, in collaboration with PlayStation Studios’ External Development team. The announcement described the intended operating arrangement, not a guarantee that Firewalk would remain independent indefinitely.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What happened to Concord and Firewalk?
On September 3, 2024, PlayStation announced that Concord sales would cease and that the game would go offline beginning September 6. The update also described refunds for purchasers. PlayStation’s shutdown notice did not provide a sourced player count or sales total.
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In October 2024, a PlayStation Studios update said the game had been taken offline because some aspects of Concord did not attract enough players. Sony also announced that Firewalk would close and that Concord would be discontinued. The October update states Sony’s explanation; it is not an independently measured account of player demand.
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What is known—and not disclosed—about the deal
- Known: Sony announced an agreement to acquire Firewalk from ProbablyMonsters on April 20, 2023, after a 2021 publishing partnership.
- Known: Firewalk was developing an unnamed original AAA multiplayer game for PS5 and PC; PlayStation named it Concord on May 24, 2023.
- Not stated in the official announcements: the acquisition price, a sourced Concord player count, or a sales total.
- Later outcome: Concord went offline beginning September 6, 2024, and Sony subsequently announced the game’s discontinuation and Firewalk’s closure.
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