Concord reportedly cost $400 million to develop with "toxic positivity" affecting production
Firewalk Studios’ recently delisted team-based shooter, Concord, reportedly had a $400 million development budget, and its production was plagued by a culture of "toxic positivity."
The details:
According to the PlayStation podcast Sacred Symbols, which claims to have spoken with someone "who worked on Concord," its development was directly affected by "toxic positivity." This meant that any criticisms or pushback against decisions made during production were shut down, a claim that was later corroborated by Kotaku's Ethan Gach. “I can corroborate the part about toxic positivity,” Gach wrote on X. “Some sources I've spoken with blamed a head in the sand mentality carried over from the studio's Bungie roots. A sense the game would come together because the team was too good to fail.”
Concord was said to have been referred to internally as "the future of PlayStation," with "Star Wars-like potential." The game was also reported to have cost $400 million to develop, but Gach and other developers dispute this figure, arguing that it could include the cost of Firewalk itself after Sony acquired the studio in 2023.
Concord was released in August to fewer than 1,000 players and reportedly sold less than 25,000 units on PS5 and PC. Shortly after, it was announced that the game would be taken offline in just two weeks, but then-game director Ryan Ellis hinted that it might return at a later date. However, Ellis has since stepped down from his position, and Firewalk employees are still waiting to hear about the future of the game and the studio.
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