Failure with Concord was a learning experience, says Sony president

Sony President Hiroki Totoki spoke candidly about the game’s recent failure Concorddescribing the experience as an important learning experience for the company.

In a Q&A session following Sony’s latest financial results meeting, Totoki highlighted that the development and launch of new IPs always entail considerable risk and that, despite the game’s early closure, the mistakes made will serve as a basis for improve future PlayStation projects.

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What went wrong with Concord?

Concord is a first-person shooter with a focus on the live service model. Released with great anticipation, it promised an immersive gameplay and cooperative experience that seemed destined to win over fans of games like Destiny e The Division. However, just 11 days after its release, Sony made the decision to discontinue the title and close the studio responsible, Firewalk.

According to Hiroki Totoki, one of Concord’s biggest problems was the lack of coordination between different departments at Sony. The president mentioned that the company’s organizational structure is “compartmentalized,” which made efficient collaboration between the development and sales teams difficult.

He suggested that if “validation gates” — game evaluation processes such as user testing and internal reviews — had occurred at an earlier time, they could have avoided many of the problems faced.

Totoki also mentioned the importance of adjusting the timing launch of titles. According to him, the fact that Concord was launched alongside other great titles, such as Helldivers 2which was a resounding success, made the game’s visibility difficult and generated a kind of cannibalization in the market. “We need to find more appropriate release windows so that our titles don’t cancel each other out”, stated the president.

Lessons for the future

Despite Concord’s failure, Hiroki Totoki emphasized that the experience provided valuable lessons for Sony. According to him, the development of new titles, especially those that follow the live service model, needs a more integrated and collaborative approach. Failures in project planning and execution will serve as a basis for improving the company’s strategy in future launches.

“We learned the importance of having more evaluation steps, such as user testing and internal validations, and doing this earlier in the process”, explained Totoki. He also stated that sharing these lessons among Sony’s various studios is essential to prevent similar mistakes from being repeated.

The company intends to use Concord’s experience to strengthen its games portfolio, combining single-player game development, one of Sony’s strengths, with live service titles that carry greater risks but also huge potential for return.

In the future, Sony hopes to find a balance between producing single-player titles, which have already proven to be big hits, and focusing on live service games. Totoki highlighted that while developing new intellectual properties is always a risk, it is also essential for the company’s innovation and growth. “Each new release is a learning opportunity, and that’s how we intend to treat the future of PlayStation“, concluded the president.

Source: Videgames Chronicle