Concord
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Documents about Concord
Sony Divorces Kojima, While Nintendo (Re)unites Fans with Ocarina of Time
This analysis examines recent shifts in the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Sony’s strategic divestment from high-profile partnerships and Nintendo’s reliance on legacy intellectual property.
- Sony has cancelled its partnership with Hideo Kojima Productions for the espionage game 'Physint', leading Kojima to move the project to Xbox.
- Death Stranding 2 has sold 2.5 million copies globally since its June 2025 launch, generating $170 million in revenue, with 1.8 million units sold on PlayStation and 700,000 on Steam.
- Sony's recent financial performance has been impacted by high-profile failures like 'Concord', which cost over $300 million, leading to a more cautious approach to project development.
Why Did PlayStation Buy Bungie in the First Place?
PlayStation’s $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie in 2022 was fundamentally driven by a strategic imperative to transition from a reliance on traditional single-player experiences toward a sustainable live-service model.
- PlayStation acquired Bungie for $3.6 billion in January 2022 to gain expertise in live service games and leverage Bungie's hit live service game, Destiny, as PlayStation's first-party software business struggled to grow beyond 20-30 million sales for its single-player titles.
- Bungie's recent releases, Destiny 2's 'Monument of Triumph' expansion (June 9th) and 'Marathon' (March), have not achieved high numbers, with Marathon peaking at 2 million players, indicating the acquisition has not yet met expectations for PlayStation's live service ambitions.
- PlayStation's strategy to expand into live service games involved commissioning external studios (e.g., Arrowhead, Firewalk Studios) and internal teams (e.g., Insomniac, Naughty Dog) for new titles, a departure from its historical approach of acquiring studios only after prior collaborations.
Sony Reportedly Ended Destiny 2 Support Over Financial Losses, Not Revenge Against Bungie
Sony’s decision to terminate Destiny 2 live-service support has been framed as a financial calculation rather than an act of retaliation against Bungie.
- Sony terminated live-service support for Destiny 2 primarily due to persistent financial losses and high maintenance costs rather than internal retaliation against Bungie.
- Executive leadership at Sony reached the decision after a formal evaluation of the title's profit-and-loss statement determined that continued investment was unsustainable.
- The decision to cut support is isolated to Destiny 2's performance and is not a punitive measure related to the failure of other Sony live-service titles like Concord.
PlayStation Could Use More Hits, Amid First-Party Game Sales Decline
Sony’s recent data reveal a sustained decline in first-party game sales across its PlayStation platforms since 2020, with only a modest rebound in the most recent fiscal year.
- Sony’s first-party game sales have experienced a significant long-term decline, dropping from a peak of 58.4 million units in the 2020–2021 period to less than half that volume four years later.
- The most recent fiscal year (April 2025–March 2026) saw a modest recovery to 32.1 million units, bolstered by the release of 'Ghost of Yotei'.
- The sales slump persists despite Sony’s strategy of studio acquisitions and a heavy reliance on remakes and remasters, neither of which has successfully reversed the downward trend.
Sony Layoffs and Their Impact on the Gaming Industry
Sony Interactive Entertainment has undergone significant organizational restructuring between 2022 and 2025, resulting in the layoff of 1,568 employees globally.
- On February 27, 2024, Sony announced an 8% reduction in its global workforce, impacting approximately 900 employees across the Americas, EMEA, Japan, and APAC.
- Bungie, acquired by Sony for $3.6 billion in 2022, underwent two rounds of significant layoffs: 100 employees in October 2023 due to revenue falling 45% below projections, and 220 employees (17% of its workforce) in July 2024.
- Sony permanently closed Firewalk Studios and cut approximately 210 jobs in October 2024 following the commercial failure of the game Concord.
The State of Live Service Games on Live Streaming
The live service gaming sector remains a high-stakes environment where success is fundamentally tied to the ability to cultivate and maintain a loyal community.
- Live service games account for approximately 84% of total game market revenue, driving publishers to continue investing in the genre despite high-profile failures.
- The top 10 live service games consistently generate roughly 30% of all watch time across live-streaming platforms, underscoring their role as the primary drivers of audience engagement.
- Live-streaming performance serves as a predictive indicator for community health; for example, Concord’s viewership dropped from 308K hours during its beta to 107K at launch, signaling a lack of long-term player retention.
Switch 2 Unveiled, Xbox Expands, and Live Service Games Face Challenges – January’s Gaming Recap
The January 2025 gaming recap highlights three pivotal industry movements. Nintendo confirmed the Switch 2, announcing a backward-compatible console that will debut fully on April 2.
- Nintendo officially confirmed the Switch 2 with full backward compatibility and a scheduled debut on April 2, 2025.
- Live-service gaming faces a sustainability crisis, with the cancellation of titles like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Concord, and MultiVersus resulting in nearly $1 billion in lost development costs.
- Microsoft’s Xbox division reported a 7% revenue decline driven by a 29% drop in console sales, despite a 2% increase in Game Pass revenue.
Election Games: Pressing Play on Politics
This analysis examines the shifting intersection of politics, media, and the global gaming industry, focusing on the transition from traditional outreach to interactive engagement.
- Major European gaming firms are undergoing significant restructuring due to financial over-extension, including Stillfront’s three-way split, Ubisoft’s potential sale amid a $1.3 billion valuation, and Embracer Group’s divestment of its 200-project portfolio.
- CD Projekt remains a market outlier with a $3.2 billion valuation, achieving stability by prioritizing consumer trust and product quality over high-volume output.
- Political strategy is shifting toward interactive gaming and live-streamed environments as candidates seek to bypass traditional media to reach younger demographics.
Grand Theft Auto 5 is No.1 Again in August: European Monthly Charts
The European video game market experienced a 7% year-on-year increase in software sales during August 2024, with 11.8 million console and PC units sold.
- European console hardware sales plummeted 42% year-on-year in August 2024 to just over 300,000 units, with year-to-date sales down 29%.
- Software sales grew 7% year-on-year to 11.8 million units, driven largely by promotional activity for legacy titles like Grand Theft Auto 5, which reclaimed the number one spot.
- Star Wars Outlaws debuted at number two, but its initial sales were less than half of those achieved by Star Wars Jedi: Survivor during its 2023 launch.
Sony’s $700 PS5 Pro, Concord’s Setback, and Ubisoft’s Challenges: Recent Developments in the Gaming Industry
Sony’s latest console launch, the PS5 Pro priced at $700, is highlighted as a key industry event.
- Ubisoft stock has reached a decade-low following the underperformance of Star Wars Outlaws and concerns regarding the live-service title xDefiant, leading to speculation about potential privatization.
- Sony’s PS5 Pro has launched at a $700 price point, drawing scrutiny for its premium cost and the exclusion of a disc drive despite its enhanced graphical capabilities.
- Sony’s live-service title Concord was pulled from the market just 12 days after release due to a failure to generate a return on investment.
The Tragedy of Concord: A Lesson in Video Game Marketing
The failure of the live-service hero shooter Concord, which was shut down just two weeks after its release, serves as a critical case study on the necessity of robust market research in the gaming industry.
- The live-service hero shooter 'Concord' was shut down just two weeks after its launch in August 2024 following eight years of development and significant production costs.
- The game failed to establish a player base due to a lack of pre-release hype, ineffective marketing, and trailers that were criticized for unoriginal gameplay and poor humor.
- Concord entered a saturated hero-shooter market long after the genre's peak, failing to differentiate itself from established competitors like Apex Legends and Valorant, the latter of which maintains over half a million daily players.
Bungie Considers $40 Price Tag for Marathon
Bungie is currently evaluating a $40 premium price point for its upcoming extraction shooter, Marathon, marking a potential departure from the free-to-play model that dominates the contemporary multiplayer market.
- Bungie is considering a $40 premium price point for its upcoming extraction shooter, Marathon, moving away from the industry-standard free-to-play model.
- Internal playtesters and selected streamers have reportedly indicated that the game feels worth the $40 price tag.
- The project is currently in development as an extraction shooter featuring class-based playstyles, with at least two maps currently playable.
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